Port Harcourt residents hail Buhari over Niger Delta dialogue

Some residents of Port Harcourt have commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his recent meeting with Niger Delta stakeholders on how to resolve the crises in the region.

The people, in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt on Sunday, commended the government’s move towards tackling militancy in the oil-rich region.

One of them, Mr Sylvanus Akpokiri, who described the meeting as a welcomed development, expressed optimism that the dialogue would help to resolve the problems.

Akpokiri, an environmentalist, observed that there was no crisis involving humans that could not be resolved through dialogue.

He called on the people to support the present initiative to succeed and appealed to the militants to lay down their arms and embrace peace.

Mrs Freda Abeki emphasized that only dialogue could provide a lasting solution to the Niger Delta crises.

According to Abeki, part of the reasons why militancy and other crimes have increased in the region is because of communication breakdown between government and the various stakeholders.

O his part, Mr Stanley Gbeso, said that if there was sincere and continual dialogue between government and the people of the Niger Delta, there would not be a resurgence of militancy in the region.

Gbeso called for sustained dialogue between government and the people on the issues raised by the agitators.

Mrs Ann Agbele said that the session between the Federal Government and the region’s stakeholders was a step in the right direction and urged the parties to abide by all resolutions reached at the meeting.

Agbele noted that most times, failure to obey agreements reached during such dialogues by parties concerned in an issue, had remained the bane of end to crises.

She also called for continued dialogue among the stakeholders while appealing to the militants to stop destruction of oil installations in the region.