Soyinka to lead negotiations with group - Report

This was disclosed by the spokesperson of the Dialogue Group, Mr Ballantyne Agiri to New Telegraph.

“I was on my own when they invited me to work for them. But I told them that one person cannot hold dialogue with the government, that we should look for eminent Nigerians who have the pedigree to do a good job," he said.

“The moment I mentioned Professor Wole Soyinka, they became interested because, according to them, he is somebody who is not from the Niger Delta, but has a credible and detribalised personality. Right now, we are constituting the dialogue team, we are putting logistics in place. Some of the members of the team are coming from outside the country.

“When you see some of them, you will even be shocked. Some of them are people who have served this country in different capacities. We are in the process. You know, this thing is not one man’s business. Most of those we have contacted do not want us to disclose their names yet.

“I only mentioned Soyinka to you because you remember that recently he went to Aso Rock to meet with Mr President to brief him and he said that Mr. President was happy with our proposal for peace,” he added.

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Soyinka had on, August 11, met with President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.