Governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom has called on the Federal Government to honor its agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The call was made on Tuesday by Governor Ortom while receiving the protesting workers at the gate of the government house in Makurdi.
Ortom, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Tony Ijohor SAN, regretted the nonchalant attitude of the federal government towards the future of Nigerian children.
He said, “I wish to commend the NLC for embarking on the solidarity protest. For over five months, our children have been home, and since the federal government is not doing anything about it, Benue State Government is fully in support of your action, and we will communicate to Federal Government.
“As far as we are concerned, this strike is uncalled for; it is too much. You entered into an agreement with somebody, go and honor the agreement. If they (FG) have an issue, please discuss it with them.
“We can’t have a situation whereby we lock up our universities for going to six months now. This is unacceptable.
“Let me call the Federal government that this issue of ‘no work, no pay’ should be revisited. It doesn’t make sense. This ASUU strike is not about the salary. They have so many issues. So go and address the issues.
“We are different from the federal government because despite our state varsity being on a sympathy strike, we are still paying them. Let FG borrow from Benue State. You can not just stop their salary.”