Fayose, Dickson seek goverment, militants’ dialogue

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose and his Bayelsa State counterpart Seriake Dickson, have called on the Federal Government and the Niger Delta militants to embrace dialogue in solving the restiveness and bombing of pipelines in the region.

Both canvassed the position at the weekend, at the convocation of Ekiti State University (EKSU), where Dickson was honoured with a doctorate degree. Dickson, who noted that the use of military option had failed in the past to subdue the militants, said government should open up its flanks to dialogue with the group.

He said: “We are all concerned about the developments, all the leaders there are concerned about the recent resurgence of militancy and we are collaborating on the way forward.”

He added that, “Those of us who are governors in our states are working hard with traditional leaders and opinion leaders and security agencies. We are also collaborating with other private and corporate bodies to ensure that we put it under control.”

The governor disclosed that, “The way forward is not war, war, but jaw-jaw. The way forward is peace and dialogue, it is consensus building and that is what some of us are in support of, we are not in support of violence, we are not in support of brigandage, we are not in support of destruction of strategic national assets and killings,” he said.

According to Dickson, there is an issue and this can only be addressed when all stakeholders work together for unity, peace, prosperity and stability and progress for our country.

He expressing appreciation to the university and Ekiti State for the honour, saying, “It is a great privilege.”Fayose, who corroborated the need for dialogue, also called on Nigerians to pay more attention to agriculture, noting there is food insecurity in the country that must be tackled.

He canvassed giving priority to agriculture because “we are not only fighting Boko Haram and insecurity, but we already have food insecurity.” According to him, “When you have food to eat, a large part of the problem is solved. It is not everybody that would build house, but everyone must eat.”