Leaders of the two major rival groups behind the four-year old leadership crisis within the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, and Tajudeen Baruwa, have agreed to reconciliation and dialogue, following the intervention of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
Akinsanya is the current president of the NURTW in the country while Baruwa, the immediate past leader of the union is seeking a second term in office.
The development according to reports, followed a peace and reconciliation meeting convened by the leadership of the NLC on Thursday in Abuja, where both camps pledged to pursue a peaceful resolution of their dispute and work together to restore unity, stability and the integrity of the transport workers’ union.
Sources at the meeting described the development as the most significant progress since the leadership tussle began, adding that both sides firmly assured of their commitments to resolving all outstanding issues through sustained dialogue.
A source familiar with the mediation told ‘The Guardian’ that the discussions were frank and constructive, noting that the willingness of both parties to continue with the engagements, had renewed hopes for a permanent close to the protracted leadership dispute.
According to the source, “there is now a shared commitment to dialogue. Both parties have agreed that the reconciliation process should continue without conditions, and there is optimism that this marks the beginning of a new chapter for the union.”
The NLC is expected to convene further meetings to consolidate the peace process and strengthen the unity of the union, just as the reconciliation is expected to ease tensions within the NURTW, which has had a leadership crisis since 2022, after Baruwa was said to have been re-elected as the national president at the union’s National Delegates’ Conference.
However, a rival faction led by Akinsanya had challenged the election, resulting in parallel leadership structures, prolonged litigation and deep divisions within the union, prompting repeated interventions by the NLC.
