Federal Government of Nigeria has resolved to dialogue over the southeast insecurity crisis.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Federal Government of Nigeria has opted for dialogue in settling the escalating insecurity in the Southeast region of the country.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, disclosed this after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and the Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, at the State House, Abuja.
Ngige said he and the Chief of Staff also briefed the President on developments in the Labour sector, especially the faceoff between the Kaduna State government and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the recently suspended industrial actions by judicial and legislative workers nationwide.
Ngige on the security situation in the Southeast said: “We also looked at the security situation, especially in my zone, the Southeast, and we made some proposal to him, based on the yearnings of the people, and what the government also wants.”
The Minister on Friday said, “We are following up with dialogue, which at the end of the day is what will happen. We have to talk, we have to discuss. And part of the discussion starts also tomorrow (Saturday).
“The Minister of Defence, Minister of Interior, and the service chiefs were in Enugu earlier last Saturday and we are going to do follow-up meetings on that again, starting from tomorrow.
“We briefed him and he accepted that dialogue is the way to go in all these. Like I keep on saying there is a very tiny line between perception and reality, so certain things should be done, at least to assuage the feelings of the people in the area and make them not to feel unwanted so that area was also discussed.”
As regards the recently called-off industrial actions by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), Ngige said he and Gambari, has informed the President of the details of the process that led to the end of the strikes.
The Minister noted that a copy of the agreements reached with the unions has been handed over to the President.