By Ola Ajayi
IBADAN—Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has faulted the claims by some state governors that the October 2009 agreement it signed with the Federal Government was not binding on them.

On the contrary, he stated that the agreement on the conducive working conditions was not for the Federal universities as claimed by the governors but applicable to other state universities as well.

The clarification was made by the Chairman of the Ibadan branch of the union, Ademola Aremu while speaking with newsmen yesterday on the three-day-warning strike directed by the National Executive Council (NEC) of the union.

He said, “it is wrong for any governor to claim ignorance of the agreement because, the National Universities Commission (NUC) which is the supervisory organ for all the universities in the country was part of the agreement which also included Committee of Pro-Chancellors (CPC), as well as Committee of Vice-Chancellors (CVC) representing all the country’s universities.”

He also said the flimsy excuse by some states that they had no financial muscle to obey the agreement was not tenable, adding that “it would have been another thing if the states had shown concern to other sectors.

But, the truth of the matter is that there is nothing to point to as engaging the financial attention of the various state governments, except some frivolous things that cannot serve any beneficial purpose to the people.”

He explained that residents in the states affected by the strike should find means of convincing their governors to implement the gentlemanly agreement as it was meant for the smooth running of our education sector.