The Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, has finally held an extensive peace parley with the national leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Nigerian Union of Teachers, in a bid to resolve the dispute that culminated in the ongoing industrial action by the workers.
The NLC was led to the parley by the Deputy President of the NLC, Comrade Peter Adeyemi, while the Chairman of the NLC, Comrade Waheed Oloyede, led NUT to the meeting that lasted more than seven hours.
The meeting started after a mega rally was staged by the national and state chapters of the NLC round the state capital in Ibadan to gather more support from the people and also press home their demands to the Governor.
Briefing the press after the meeting, Adeyemi said that the meeting was fruitful, stressing that the parties were yet to reach a conclusion on the matter following the request by the labour representatives to be given 24 hours to enable them brief the congress on the outcome of the meeting.
He added that the final decision of the labour unions would be communicated to members of the public through the media after meeting with the congress on Thursday.
The agitations of labour had been summarised at the congress that held before the rally where labour insisted that it would not back down until Government reverses its decision to involve public private partnership in the administration of public secondary schools in the state.
They also stated that they want seven months outstanding salaries paid.
It was few hours after this congress that the Speaker Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Micheal Adeyemo finally succeeded in brokering peace by bringing the two sides to dialogue.
Besides commending the Governor for his “understanding, patience and tolerance,” the NLC boss also saluted the Speaker of the House of Assembly for facilitating the meeting with the Governor.
In his response, the Governor lauded the commitment and maturity with which the national leadership of the union handled the labour impasse, pointing out that the labour leaders displayed sincerity of purpose and high sense of maturity.
Ajimobi said that the meeting reflected government’s honesty and sincerity on various issues that came up for discussion at the parley.
He also added that he remained committed to lifting the state beyond its current limits and urged labour to end the strike.
“We are by this dialogue deepening democracy. Democracy is about discussion, consultation and all of us must participate in it because there is no other way out other than to ensure the continued progress and development of our state and the country at large.
“We have had a family discussion and I’m optimistic that the crisis will soon be laid to rest. Dialogue is the potent weapon in any dispute and that is what I have been advocating. It’s good to jaw-jaw instead of war-war,” Governor Ajimobi said.
