FG committed to maintaining peace, harmony in all sectors, says Labour minister

Hon Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, has said the Federal Government is committed to maintaining lasting peace and harmony in all sectors of the country.

She made this known when she received leaders of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), led by Issa Ore, its acting president, at the labour ministry in Abuja; she also assured that the ministry would ensure that peace returns to the NURTW.

Nkeiruka said, “I assure you that if there is anything that is left undone as we speak, with your kind cooperation, it will be done; there is nothing that cannot be resolved.

“Last year, it was all gloomy faces, but today, I can see cheerful faces, and everybody seems to be happy. That is a good thing to happen in the new year, and I wish all a happy and prosperous 2024 and that there will be no crisis in NURTW anymore.

“The president has said that he wants peace for the country. He also said that he is the driver while we, the ministers and appointees of this government, are the conductors for the whole Nigeria, irrespective of ethnicity, religion or belief. So, I am the conductor, and my duty is to make sure that everybody is in the right place.”

Comrade Ore had earlier disclosed that the interferences by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and some state governments had caused issues within the union.

On the visit, he said it was to thank the ministry for its efforts in ensuring justice, fairness and impartiality in the handling of the affairs of the union, even though efforts by detractors to intimidate and ridicule the ministry’s efforts.

He said, “In all of it, we remain grateful to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, even from the time of Simon Lalong, for choosing to tread the path of justice, fairness and impartiality in the handling of the affairs of our union despite all effort by detractors to intimidate and ridicule your efforts.”

“Consequently, we have experienced peace, unity and progress in NURTW. For assisting us to achieve this feat, we reaffirm our solidarity and goodwill to the ministry and to your good self.

“We believe that external interferences by some players (as witnessed last year by the NLC) and sometimes outright ban of our activities by some state governments, especially by way of purported proscription, are contrary to the spirit and letters of domestic and international legislations and opens the concerned bodies and state government to perceptions of bias and political interest by the NURTW and many right thinking members of the public.”