Rival heads behind the four-year leadership crisis at the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Musiliu Akinsanya (popularly known as MC Oluomo), and Tajudeen Baruwa, have agreed to reconciliation and dialogue following the intervention of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
   
This followed a peace and reconciliation meeting convened by the NLC in Abuja yesterday, 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, saying that both sides were 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, adding that the willingness of both parties to continue talking 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 engagements 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 elected 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.