THE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), on Wednesday, said that the doors to the universities in the country would remain shut to academic activities as long as the Federal Government was not willing to strike a deal with it.

The union described the decision of the Mr. Gamaliel Onosode-led Federal Government Negotiation Team to back out of the negotiations as irresponsible on the part of the government.

ASUU President, Professor Ukachukwu Awuzie, briefing newsmen, accused the Federal Government and its agents of being responsible for the continuation of the crisis, since they were never ready to approach the issues with sincerity.

He said that Mr. Onosode, had on behalf of the Federal Government, terminated the negotiations on July 10, 2009, saying, “everything else he has done on behalf of his principals is a charade. He cannot honestly claim that negotiation has been going on up to August, contrary to his declaration of July 10th.”

The ASUU president also alleged that the government had already stopped their salaries, contrary to the claim by the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), that their July salaries had been paid.

He said: “The directive was given to all vice chancellors to stop salaries of all the striking workers and that was conveyed on behalf of the NUC by one Mr. J. M. Ahmadu. You can visit the university campuses to verify that there was such a directive.”

He explained that what the union wanted was a benchmark for the universities in the country to follow as the required standard for the operation of universities in Nigeria as contained in the draft agreement, saying that the union was surprised at the level of distortion of facts and “war propaganda” by the government and its agents.

Awuzie said that there was nowhere in the provisions of the draft agreement compelling the state governments to obey the provisions, instead, he said the agreement reached with the government’s negotiation team was for the Federal Government to approve the minimum benchmark that the National Universities Commission (NUC) and other agencies would use in setting standards for operation of universities in Nigeria.

He said: “The agreement contains benchmark which every university must satisfy in order to be part of the system without being inferior.” “What is happening is war propaganda and it is irresponsible on the part of government. We have told Onosode that ASUU is a union of citizens who have their rights and we are not slaves to be imposed upon.

“We have come a long way from the time, during military rule, when arbitrary rules were imposed on Nigerians. We are not cowed and ASUU will not accept state arbitrariness, imposition and industrial autocracy. For we are ready to sacrifice everything we have if this is required,” Awuzie stated.

On the directive by the Federal Government for the Universities Governing Councils to reopen schools for interested workers to resume, the ASUU President declared that the union would not allow that to happen, saying “I can assure you nobody will go to work.”

He challenged the Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, NUC’s Executive Secretary, Professor Julius Okojie, and indeed any other government official to produce the document where ASUU demanded for 109 per cent salary increase as the government has made the public to believe their problem was salary increases.

He added, “The main cause of the prolongation of the current crisis is this barefaced attempt to impose a change of rule on ASUU, contrary to the principles of collective bargaining.”

Awuzie stated that the government was to be held responsible for the systemic failure and shutdown in the university system, vowing that the lecturers would not return to class despite all entreaties until government was ready to listen to them.

Meanwhile, the ASUU President also disclosed that it was taking a comprehensive data of all the children of top government officials who are receiving their education abroad.

He said this was necessary to make Nigerians judge for themselves the reason why ASUU had consistently said that the government had no interest in revamping the nation’s ailing education sector.

The ASUU president’s stand was similarly echoed also on Wednesday by the union’s zonal co-ordinator for Ilorin, Kwara State, Professor Eddy Olanipekun, in Ado Ekiti, where he told newsmen that the recent turn of events in the face off between the government and the union would not stampede ASUU to abandon its cause to reposition the nation’s universities to be among the best in the world.