as FG warns against fresh industrial crisis in Kaduna
Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, has disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari was favourably disposed to adopting dialogue in resolving the on-going challenge of insecurity in the South-Eastern part of the country.
Ngige made this disclosure at the weekend after a meeting with the President alongside his Chief of Staff (CoS), Professor Ibrahim Gambari.
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, the minister said they recommended dialogue to the President based on the yearnings of the people.
“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 thin 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.”
The minister disclosed that they equally discussed labour issues, including the recent strike embarked upon by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) which paralysed legislative and judicial activities in the country for two months before being called off.
Ngige told newsmen that the government would monitor the agreement noting that the President issued Order 10 in consonance with the provisions of the Constitution to ensure implementation of financial autonomy for the legislature and judiciary.
He added that issues concerning the face-off between the Kaduna State government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) were also raised with the President.
The minister said it was resolved that there was no need for another round of industrial disharmony between labour and the Kaduna State government especially as the country was being faced with serious security challenges.