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Tag: Iyayi

  • Iyayi remembered at LAUTECH

    Iyayi remembered at LAUTECH

    The Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) took time out last week to remember the union’s late national president, Prof Festus Iyayi, two years after his death.

    A posthumous lecture in his honour titled: “Lessons of life and times of Festus Iyayi,” was delivered by Dr. Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju, ASUU Chairman, University of Ilorin branch at the LAUTECH lecture theatre.

    Oloruntoba-Oju described Iyayi as a courageous, fearless and down-to-earth activist whose legacy was worthy of emulation.

    “Prof Iyayi’s life taught humanity to live diligently. His life taught humanity that we must not be ashamed and equally defend any justifiable course we believed in.

    “He was sacked and remained jobless for eight years, tortured, persecuted and hounded in prison, yet he remained defiant in the course he so much adored and believed in till he breathed his last,” he stated.

    Oloruntoba- Oju remarked that Iyayi replicated himself by producing men and women who are exemplary in the Nigerian academic environment.

    “His activism did not go unnoticed as ASUU National Secretariat was named after him as well as a School by Comrade Adams Oshiomole, the Edo State Governor.  He did not give life to mundane things of life. Virtue is his own reward,” he said.

     

  • Ojukwu varsity’s ASUU remembers Iyayi

    Ojukwu varsity’s ASUU remembers Iyayi

    The Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday marched for the late President of the union, Prof. Festus Iyayi.

    The procession moved from the temporary site to the main campus.

    Led by the Chairman, Comrade Emeka Nwabuniya, the procession sang pro-Iyayi solidarity songs round the school before proceeding to the Political Science Hall on the Igbariam Campus.

    Addressing reporters, Nwabuniya lamented the poor funding, lack of electricity, poor remuneration and accommodation challenges facing the school.

    He noted that poor infrastructure had robbed some faculties of accreditation, while fee increment continued to chase away students.

    The chairman praised Governor Willie Obiano for raising the school’s subvention. But he admitted that most of the infrastructure was built by Tertiary Education and Technology Fund (TETFUND), while a few others were done  through the school’s internally generated revenue (IGR).

    Nwabuniya said the school was under-staffed, saying lecturers were a little above 500, for an institution that should have more than 1,000 teachers.

  • Colleagues mark anniversary of Iyayi ’s death

    Colleagues mark anniversary of Iyayi ’s death

    Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of Adekunle  Ajasin University Akungba  Akoko (AAUA) chapter, said they would continue to mourn the death of its former President, Prof Festus Iyayi.

    According to its Chairman, Dr Busuyi Mekusi, the institution marked the one year anniversary of the renowned academic because of his pragmatism and leadership qualities during his life time that elevated ASUU.

    It would be recalled that the late ASUU leader died in November last year, in a motor accident on his way to Kano to participate in the National Congress of the Union as part of the efforts to resolve the then crisis between the union and the Federal Government.

    Mekusi said the union would continue to treasure the beliefs the deceased nurtured when he was alive.

    It noted that even though a year is gone since the ASUU leader lost his life in the cause of the struggle; members of the union are still missing him.

    His words: “We remember today our dogged comrade who died due to the recklessness in our country a year ago. While we still await the attainment of justice in this regard, we will continue to treasure the seed of ideology he nurtured.

    “As we mark the first anniversary of his death, we hope our leaders will be more committed to quality of education in the country, as all lovers of democratic initiatives sustain the quest to make education accessible to all.”

    He urged government at all levels to be more committed towards promotion of education in the country, adding that it is a cause the late Iyayi died for.

    The ASUU Chairman said public lectures and other programmes were organised by the union to mark the first anniversary of Iyayi’s death.

  • UNIZIK remembers Iyayi

    Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) in Awka, Anambra State has held a ceremony to remember the late leader of the union, Prof Festus Iyayi, who died last year.

    The late Iyayi died in an auto crash involving the union’s vehicle and a vehicle in Kogi State governor’s convoy on Abuja-Lokoja highway. The deceased was in company of other members of the union on their way to Kano State for ASUU meeting when the accident occurred.

    One year after, the UNIZIK chapter of the ASUU said it was yet to see the fruition of the agreement the Federal Government reached with lecturers.

    Briefing reporters about the memorial in honour of the late Iyayi, Comrade Dennis Aribodor, ASUU leader in UNIZIK, said the poor condition of the academic system, which Iyayi fought against was still prevalent in universities.

    Aribodor said education was still being inadequately funded by the government, adding that problems of infrastructural decay, poor learning condition and service were yet to be solved.

    He said ASUU rejected the ongoing “privatisation of education” and the selling of public educational institutions, calling on Nigerians to urge the government to honour the agreement that led to the suspension of the last industrial action by lecturers.

    He hailed the national leadership of ASUU, which immortalised the late Iyayi by naming its national secretariat complex after him, and also compiled his works.

    The ASUU Zonal Co-ordinator, Comrade Ike Odumegwu, stressed that justice was yet to be done over the circumstances surrounding the death of Prof Iyayi.

    Odumegwu said the union still expected a thorough investigation into the matter.

  • ASUU to establish foundation in Iyayi’s honour

    ASUU to establish foundation in Iyayi’s honour

    The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) will establish a foundation in honour of the late Prof. Festus Iyayi.

    This was contained in the resolution released at the end of ASUU’s NEC meeting held at the University of Ibadan on Monday and signed by its National President, Dr. Nasir Fagge.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Iyayi, a former National President of the union, died in November 2013 in a car crash.

    He was travelling to Kano to participate in the union’s NEC meeting called to resolve the six months strike by the union.

    The union in the resolution also resolved to name its national secretariat located at the University of Abuja after the late activist.

    According to the resolution, the foundation will have components which include scholarship awards for indigent students.

    The resolution also condemned the imposition of fees on students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun

    The union in the resolution directed its members in OAU to ensure the reversal of the new fees which it described as a violation of ASUU’s standing principle.

    “University education must be seen as public good.

    “ The unity, security and development of our country depend   on the quality and effectiveness of our university education,’’ it said.

  • Iyayi: Falana urges FRSC to prosecute ‘killer driver’

    Iyayi: Falana urges FRSC to prosecute ‘killer driver’

    Lagos lawyer Mr Femi Falana (SAN) has urged the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to prosecute Mr Dalandi Baba, the driver of the Toyota Hilux pick-up van in the convoy of Kogi State Governor Idris Wada, which allegedly caused the accident that killed former Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) President, Prof Festus Iyayi, last year.

    He said the widow of the deceased, Mrs Grace Iyayi, and ASUU leaders had instructed him to immediately demand the prosecution of the suspect(s) indicted by the report of the FRSC in the accident.

    Falana made the demand in his April 9, 2014 letter to the FRSC Corp Marshal Chukwuma Njoku.

    He explained that the demand of Iyayi’s widow and ASUU leadership followed the report of the investigation on the accident by official of the commission.

    The report allegedly indicted the driver of the Toyota Hilux pick-up in the convoy of the governor in the death of the former ASUU president.

    Falana said: “In the report of the investigation attached to the letter, the FRSC found, inter alia:

    “The FRSC Investigation Team (FIT) determines that the probable cause of the crash was the deliberate failure of V#2’s (Toyota Hilux) driver to return fully or stick to his lane of travel. Contributing to the injury severity was speed, the direction of impact and one of V#1’s(ASUU bus) body reinforcement materials, which pierced through the heart area of the fatally injured. The root cause was failure of the construction companies handling the Abuja-Lokoja highway project to provide adequate traffic guidance and channelisation.

    The lawyer disagreed with the commission on how to bring the driver in the governor’s convoy to justice.

    He said: “With respect, we disagree with your request for ‘more legal powers to bring convoy drivers to justice when involved in traffic infractions that may lead to crashes’.

    “Unlike state governors, convoy drivers attached to them are not entitled to immunity, under Section 308 of the Constitution.

    “It is submitted that the FRSC has adequate and enormous legal powers to bring drivers to book, (especially those) who engage in the contraventions of the law. Specifically, Section 11(4) of the FRSC Act provides as follows:

    · ‘In the exercise of the functions conferred by this section, members of the Corps shall have the power to arrest and prosecute offenders reasonably suspected of having committed any of the following offences and serve same with a court summons or notices of offence sheet…’

    “In view of your findings on the crash involving the convoy of Governor Idris Wada, which led to tragic death of Prof Iyayi on November 12, 2013, we have the instructions of the widow of the deceased, Mrs Grace Iyayi, and the ASUU to demand the prosecution of the suspects indicted by the FRSC without further delay.”

  • Writers bid Iyayi farewell

    Writers bid Iyayi farewell

    Writers across the globe bade farewell to former president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), late Prof Festus Iyayi, who was laid to rest in his hometown, Ugbegun, last week.

    A literary feast was held in his hometown in honour of the late writer. The late Iyayi, who died last month in a road accident near Lokoja, Kogi State, would be remembered for his work in intellectual activism, in the course of which he met his death, according to writers. They called for the protection of the lives of writers.

    In a statement signed by the Secretary General, Pan African Writers Association (PAWA), Prof AtukweiOkai, said PAWA and Africa has been robbed of an illustrious sonby the death of Iyayi. On a visit to his family in Benin by a delegation led by Okai, PAWA praised his unflinching commitment and selfless devotion to the cause of African writers, especially for his enormous contribution as the Programmes Development Advisor to PAWA.

    The Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), in a statement signed by ANA President, Prof RemiRaji,commiserated with the family the late writer, saying it is still “in a state of absolute shock” by his untimely death on November 12. In addition to his numerous publications as a scholar, his four major novels – Violence, The Contract, Heroes, and Awaiting Court Martial – will continue to be relevant in the cultural and intellectual landscape of Nigerian literature as remarkable fictional perceptions of our social realities, according to Raji.

    He condemned boisterousness of some office holders, particularlyon the road, saying the consequence is what befell the late writer. It noted that the Lokoja-Abuja road, which poor condition has long been decried, also claimed the life of multi-talented poet and dancer, IfyOmalicha, in March 2012.

    “In this time of great loss, the association would like to categorically excoriate the recklessness of those in the service of public officials in Nigeria as well as the embarrassing underdevelopment of infrastructure in the country.

    “The untimely death of Festus Iyayi, professor and novelist, was caused by the recklessness of officials in the employ of the Governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada, in an ungodly hurry to obscure ends. This state of affair, where we lose the best and the brightest as well as those with unfathomable potential, is absolutely condemnable.”

    According to Raji, late Iyayi was a lifelong member of ANA, a founding and influential member of the Edo state chapter of the Association, adding that he will be “greatly missed”.

    “We join the family of late Professor Festus Iyayi, the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the intellectual community at the University of Benin, particularly, in this period of mourning and will be participating in the burial ceremonies of the acclaimed author as will be announced by the family. Rest in Peace, Festus Iyayi,”Raji said.

    Meanwhile,as part of its recommendation to the United Nations UPR, PEN International has urged that for concrete steps be taken toend threats against writers and journalists who are exercising their right to freedom of expression, adding that federal and state security forces and officials involved in infringing fundamental rights of writers and journalists guaranteed by the Constitution be brought to book.

  • Iyayi: ASUU insists on justice

    Iyayi: ASUU insists on justice

    The Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijebu-Ode chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASSU) yesterday urged the Federal Government to ensure justice on the death of the former president of the union, Prof. Festus Iyayi.

    The TASUED chapter of the union promised to fight until it got justice for the late Prof Iyayi.

    The ASUU chairman of the university’s chapter Dr Adebayo Akinsanya said nothing would be too much to compensate for the death of the late writer and activist.

    Akinsanya described Iyayi’s death as painful.

    He said it was also a big lost to the academia.

    The union leader said the late Iyayi fought for justice all his life.

    Akinsanya said: “Iyayi believed in the freedom of the people and we at TASUED will continue to fight until we are sure his soul gets justice.

    “His death has really left a vacuum in the academic circuit and we are going to miss him.

    “We have done this procession in honour of our late president and bid him good night with the hope of meeting him in heaven.”

  • The convoy tragedy

    Just when we thought ASUU was on the verge of discussing the latest offer from the Federal Government after a crucial meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan aimed, perhaps at ending the almost five month old strike action tragedy struck. The government had offered the union N220 billion as against the N400 billion originally outlined in the 2009 agreement. The National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to discuss the offer would have held last week in Kano, Kano State.

    But Festus Iyayi, a University of Benin professor of Business Administration and onetime ASUU president and frontline member of the union was killed in a road accident involving the convoy of the Kogi State Governor Captain Idris Wada. Two other leaders of the union were, according to reports, critically injured and receiving treatment at the hospital. Prof. Iyayi alongside others was on his way to attend the meeting.

    I asked the same question I asked when the late activist, Chuma Ubani died in an accident a few years ago: Why do those that often fight for social justice and equity in society sometimes die terrible deaths? As is often the case, how can a mere mortal like me proffer answer to a question that only God can answer?

    That the late Iyayi died on his way to ASUU NEC is a testimony to his life-long commitment to the struggle for a better public university education system in Nigeria. Even after his two year stint as president of ASUU, he remained a vocal critic of government anti-poor education and economic policies; it was therefore little surprise that he was a prominent member of ASUU’s team negotiating with government the need to honour the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement.

    I never had the privilege of meeting the late erudite professor, but I met him through his numerous writings and followed his trajectory right from my days in the secondary school. I have read two of his three novels; Violence, The Contract, and Heroes, as well as some of his collection of short stories. One of them, Awaiting Court Martial, exposes the abject penury and disenfranchisement that constitute the social reality of the majority of Nigerians.

    The novel, Violence is, in some ways, an elucidation of the thoughts of Frantz Fanon in the ‘Wretched of the Earth’ in the manner that Ola Rotimi’s ‘The Gods Are Not To Blame’ explained ‘Oedipus Rex’, an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. It is the story of a young man’s brave efforts to overcome unemployment and liberate his family from the clutches of poverty. It is also the story of his unwillingness to compromise his integrity in the face of daunting challenges in the form of sleaze and corruption characterising his society.

    In language that is often vitriolic and stinging, Iyayi’s protagonists potently display his contempt for the rampant corruption that strangles contemporary Nigeria. Business persons, politicians, generals, top civil servants and other officials hoard the country’s wealth and power at the expense of the working class. Through his writings, he frowns at this base depravity of the ruling class.

    The facts of the tragic accident make it clear that Iyayi was a direct victim of the recklessness, irresponsibility and impunity that characterise the exercise of power at every level of our government, this impunity is at an all-time high in this democratic dispensation. Most road users must have witnessed the thuggish behaviour of drivers in government convoys and many have indeed been killed or maimed by their reckless driving. Often, the ‘urgent matter of state’ for which the convoys break every traffic rule and brutalise citizens who happen to be on the road at the same time with them, is to convey their “Excellency’s” to a social function or on some personal errand.

    What is really the essence of leadership? Is it not service? But here, we have – like every other thing – turned the concept on its head thereby making it lose its meaning. Isn’t it high time we demand an end to official convoys that flout with delight every traffic regulation and civilized behaviour on the roads built with our taxes and commonwealth?

    Given the immediate circumstances of this tragic event, there have been calls in certain quarters – which I also support – for the Kogi State Attorney-General to bring charges against the offending driver for manslaughter. We are talking about a precious human life here and if done it will send a clear message to the federal and state governments and to all of the public functionaries who delight in the violent, often bloody, spectacle of official convoys. I spoke to a lawyer friend and he enjoined the Iyayi family to institute a civil action, in which one of the remedies would be punitive damages.

    Agreed, this would not bring him back, but the sooner we start to take our sanity back by conducting ourselves in civilized manner with a high sense of decorum, the better things would be for us as a nation.

    More importantly, Iyayi would not have been on that road were it not for the ASUU strike. Had the Federal Government understood its duty towards our public universities, and failing that, kept its commitment to ASUU in numerous agreements, then Iyayi, and his travelling colleagues lucky to have survived the accident – but now scarred for life by their close shave with death – would not have traveled for the purpose of deliberating on the Federal Government’s needlessly delayed offer to end the strike.

    People who believe in the prophetic power of writers may thus find cause to, in retrospection, attach more importance to one of the popular statements from Iyayi’s novel, Heroes “… those who carry the cross for society always get crucified in the end …”

    Prof. Iyayi saw life as a struggle. He believed that those who struggle must stand for the cause they believe in. This was part of what defined his relationship with ASUU. Whether he lost his job or jailed for the cause of ASUU, he stood by the union all through. A few weeks ago, he wore academic gown and demonstrated with his colleagues in Benin.

    At least one thing stands out clearly from the struggles of Iyayi and his colleagues: the Federal Government now understands that the academics are not pushovers and will not just accept anything shoved down their throats, they have sent a clear signal that things should be done the right way. The Federal Government had an agreement with the union on implementing certain financial commitments to better the educational system for everybody, but instead of looking straight at the matter and dealing with it, they resorted to pandering and sentiments. I believe if things go the way ASUU wants; it would not just be a victory for them in this matter, but for the entire system.

    I don’t share the emotions of the Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam that the strike was politicised. Far from it, we will miss the point if we fail to understand that the issue here is the signing and adherence to an agreement; every other thing derives from this. No doubt, this has made the government to realise that tertiary institutions have been neglected for so long and that is why the President himself had to join the negotiation with ASUU at the last resort and increase the funds earlier released.

    Though at some point, ignorant people who do not fully understand the issues at stake lambasted the union for the prolonged action, but I’m glad with the late Iyayi and his colleagues for making their point which forced the government to meet some of their demands. At least, close to 80 per cent of ASUU demands have been met by the government. I need to however add that no meaningful negotiation is achieved if the parties stuck to their guns; the game is called give and take. That’s why it is called negotiation.

    This notwithstanding, the question in almost everyone’s lip now is would this be the last ASUU strike? Only time and the commitment of the government can answer this question. The scholar of repute would have died in vain if this strike should continue beyond this moment or happens again in the near future over the same issue of funding of our university system.

     

  • Salute to Iyayi, hero of a struggle

    Salute to Iyayi, hero of a struggle

    •Osundare, Okai, Ribadu, Ofeimun, Ajibade mourn ex-ASUU chief

    He lived and died for the struggle. Born in 1947 at Ugbegun, Edo State, Festus Iyayi was a soldier and hero in his own right.

    Iyayi, a former president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), fought for the cause he believed in till the very end last week Tuesday. The news of his death hit the Nigerian airways like a tornado, leaving behind dust of uncertainty and disillusionment. According to many, Iyayi’s death on his way to Kano for a meeting between ASUU and the federal government, laid bare the government’s insensitivity to the plight of the masses.

    He is remembered for his passion for his country, the masses, the workers and creative writing. He was a fundamentalist, whose energy was channelled towards revolutionary movements and campaigns, believing that a better society is achievable with the right kind of leaders and masses, many have said. His convictions are seen in his callings writing, academia and unionism.

    He was an outstanding leader, who not only distinguished himself in all his callings but turned them into advocacy tools for the fight and struggle for a better society.

    His writing

    Even though he had a master’s degree in Industrial Economics from the Kiev Institute of Economics, in the former USSR, a Ph.D from the University of Bradford, England and lectured at the Department of Business Administration at the University of Benin, he stood out as a writer. Iyayi was a member of several literary organisations such as the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) and Pan African Writers Association (PAWA).

    The man and his works became synonymous to revolutionary writer and literature.According to many, he was known for his radical standpoint on social and political issues, which is also seen in his works such as Violence (1979) The Contract (1982), Heroes (1986) by Longman and Awaiting Court Martial by Malthouse Press (1996).

    While employing a practical style of writing, he highlights societal ills by calling attention to the plights of the poor masses, workers, among others. His works criticise the current system where corruption and all sorts of ills are the order of the day, giving a vision of an alternative society.

    This style and preoccupation earned him the Commonwealth Prize for Literature in 1988, an award he won the same year he was detained after the union, ASUU, was banned.

    Although Violence was his first published creative work, his foray into the world of writing began much earlier. In 1968, he was a zonal winner in a Kennedy Essay Competition organised by the United States Embassy in Nigeria after graduating from Government College, Ughelli.

    His cause and death

    He was passionate about his dream for a better educational system. He was determined to become a change agent; and is reverred by many in the academia for his contribution to the welfare of academics across the nation. As lecturer, he was not just satisfied with the act of teaching alone while things were falling apart in the system. This quality earned him the president of the local branch of ASUU, known for its raditcal style of advocacy for academic and social welfare. He later rose to becoming the union’s president in 1986. In 1988, the union was briefly banned and Iyayi detained. Later, he was removed from his faculty position and, although was later returned the episode impacted greatly on his career, especially the delay in his been named a “professor”.

    True to the notion that a writer is a prophet of a sort, Iyayi’s words in his work, Heroes, “… those who carry the cross for society always get crucified in the end…”, came to pass in his case. His passion for a better educational system, the Nigerian students and cause of ASUU eventually led to his death. He was involved in a ghastly accident on his way to Kano to attend ASUU NEC meeting concerning the four-month strike by the union. The accident was allegedly caused by a reckless convoy of Kogi State Govenor Idris Wada.

    Scholars, writers and more have since not been able to stomach the loss. Their bitterness has been followed by all sorts of harsh words towards the government, especially the excesses of senior government officials and their “death-threatening” convoys.

    They shared their thoughts on the man, his life and death below.

    Ace poet and literary scholar,

    Prof Niyi Osundare

    “It is horrible…horrible loss, whose telling is beyond words. Personally, to encounter Festus was to get ready to fall in love with him. Natural. Unabashedly, unapologetically natural. Humorous and always loaded with funny anecdotes, Festus took the sting out of the scorpion of the Nigerian jungle by laughing and helping others to laugh at its countless foibles. Victim of incarceration, unwarranted sack, vilification, and other abuses, he was always ready to forge ahead. Utterly disenchanted with Nigeria’s present, he never lost hope about her future. Festus was a comrade who was also a friend, a fellow-traveller and a brother.

    He was one of our best: creative, energetic, dependable, and forthright. We were there in 1980 (with the then young and irrepressible Tunde Fatunde) when what we call ASUU today was in its infancy. Iyayi served the Union tirelessly and loyally, becoming its President in 1986, by popular acclamation. I worked with Iyayi, and saw him at close quarters. Fearless but fair, courageous but compassionate, demanding but decent, Iyayi was a great leader and an even greater follower, the kind who pressed on when others were seized by trepidation and despair. There is a painful logic in the fact he met his death while on a vital errand for his beloved ASUU.

    “Iyayi was a Balogun of the Barricades in our struggle against military dictatorship and our battle for Human Rights. He gave so generously, so valuably of himself and his inexhaustible physical and mental resources. Like the great Nelson Mandela, he could have said, without any fear of contradiction, that the struggle was his life.

    “And so Nigeria killed Iyayi. Nigeria, that dragon which feeds upon the most precious of its own eggs. We lost a gallant fighter and great patriot. Terrible. Unspeakably terrible. The patriot who laboured so hard to rid his country of violence has become a victim of her egregious violence.

    Yet another chapter in our running saga of waste … “

    Secretary-General, PAWA, Atukwei Okai:

    “Africa has lost a great son. We would miss him.”

    Activist and poet,

    Odia Ofeimun:

    “It is just horrible… not Festus of all people. He was one of the few truly good people this country has produced, a teacher of business administration who was also a wonderful novelist. Iyayi cared about and believed in people. He believed in people and was forever committed to their welfare. He fought for ASUU with all his might. His stand in ASUU was just him. Whether he was thrown in detention or denied his means of earning a livelihood, he never wavered.

    “He was a teacher of business administration, who was also a wonderful novelist. When it mattered to talk about commitment in literature, Iyayi wrote sensible literature, something sensible to anyone who believes he should not be afraid of his belief.”

    Executive Editor, The News, Kunle Ajibade:

    “It is terrible. It is a big tragedy because he suffered a lot for ASUU… look at how he died for ASUU. As a young lecturer, he was sacked because of his struggle for ASUU, came back and it took a long struggle before he was made a professor – all because of his struggle. Look at Festus now. It is a horrible story.”

    The presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2011, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu

    “Personally, I have lost a friend who was always willing to provide a pillar of support. The breed of activism is once again deflated with the passage of Iyayi and in him Nigeria has lost a sincere patriot, proficient writer, thorough academic and dodged unionist.”

    Ribadu urged the federal government to bring to an immediate end the ASUU strike and move to improve the standard of the universities, a cause the late unionist died fighting for, saying such would immortalise his memory.

     

    Former ASUU General Secretary (1980 to 82),

    Prof Uzodinma Nwala:

    “Festus Iyayi emerged on the horizon of Nigerian socio-political history in 1986 in the struggle to ensure that university education remains a vital instrument for the development and transformation of the Nigerian society.

    “I was part of the social and ideological milieu in which Iyayi, as an iconic scholar and trade unionist, was born. When he emerged from the vicinity of the University of Benin in 1981 as young ASUU activist, his potential was unmistakable. He was a very dedicated and patriotic activist, unrelenting and loyal, ready to work 24 hours a day. He was very articulate; his logic was always simple but unassailable. He had an impressive and very respectful personality.

    “By 1986, ASUU was in search of a new leader to sustain the continuity of the lofty ideals of the organisation and even move it to higher levels. Who else, but Iyayi, who had emerged as the finest and most natural product and successor of the leadership of the movement.

    “If Festus Iyayi had not merged at the time he did in the history of ASUU, the story of ASUU would have been different. He was indeed one of the great pillars of modern ASUU. We shall miss him, but his memory lives forever.

    “He died under circumstances that are avoidable. The present ASUU strike is avoidable. The convoy that took Festus’ life portrays the abnormal features of the Nigerian State – a state that at times looks like Golgotha and its politics, the game that vampires play.”

    Former colleague at ASUU, Prof Salihu Bappa (Ahmadu Bello University)

    “Iyayi was my friend. We related on the level of ASUU. We related at the level of Nigerian authors. I have stayed in his house and with his family in Benin when he was a lecturer at the Department of Business Administration. His death would be a great loss to the Labour and Progressive movements, workers and all who cherish freedom in Nigeria. This is a very committed Nigerian, who is ready to go into detention on issues he believed in, especially on democracy, freedom and for the advancement of workers.”

    Former Member, House of Representative and past President of ANA, Dr Wale Okediran:

    “Prof Iyayi has been a very close friend of mine. He was somebody who was committed to literature, both on the national and regional levels. He and I had attended many conferences on the African sub-continent, particularly the Pan African Writers Association (PAWA) in Accra, Ghana. He was somebody, whose literary activism extends beyond the Nigerian shores. His death is a very big shock and he would be badly missed.

    “The consolation is that in his lifetime, he gave his best and he was well adored by his students at the UNIBEN, his colleagues at ASUU movement and literary movement. To the end, he was on active service.

    President of ANA, Prof Remi Raji:

    “The death of Iyayi is really a sad commentary on the state of our infrastructure, the quality of our education and on the level of our civilisation as a democratic nation. That he was killed by the recklessness of a public office holder’s convoy makes it sadder and ironic. Iyayi was committed to the cause of proper funding and development of university education in Nigeria; he was to the very last a true hero. As writer, activist and scholar, he will be sorely missed.”

    Director, Niger State Book Development Agency, Baba Mohammed Dzukogi:

    “The saddest thing about his death, firstly, was that it was in the service of Nigerian students and lecturers. Secondly, it occurred because the inactivity of others because if government had fixed the universities very well. He probably wouldn’t have left his place to go and mediate on behalf of ASUU and Federal Government. The government killed him because of their inactivity to fix university which led to the strike.

    “The first time I met him was in Kaduna during the ANA Convention of 1996.

    He went about with his bag alone. He sat quietly…too quiet that at a point we were arguing before him and despite all the things we were saying, he didn’t utter a word. I asked who he was. I had read some of his interviews and discovered that he studied management, so, I became comfortable as a PHC specialist because I was just about five or six years old in ANA at that time. And sometimes, if you are just coming in for the first time and you studied something outside Literature or English, you can be a little bit intimidated by the presence of Grammarians and Literary scholars. But when I saw that he studied Business Administration or Management, I started feeling comfortable. He is such a brilliant activist.

    “His death has depleted the literary world but thank God some of us are coming up so there won’t be that gap. Although we would love to have him around, that is the way of nature – where no vacuum is allowed.

     

    ANA Vice President,

    Denja Abdullahi:

    “It was a tragic event that was clearly uncalled for and unwarranted, going by the circumstances that led to that occurrence. This is somebody that has been in the forefront for a better society. Iyayi has carved a niche for himself, when you talk of the revolutionary literature. I remember, very well, his novels: Contract, Heroes and Violence, are text that is used when we talk about revolutionary aesthetics. They are text that gave a vision of an alternative society by criticising the current system where you have corruption and all sorts of ills. He put textual materials to support his conviction.”

     

    President African Writers Forum (AfWF), Hyacinth Obunseh:

    “The most saddening news of the passing away of foremost writer and academic, Prof Iyayi comes as a rude shock and calls for legislation to stop and punish unbecoming recklessness of senior government functionaries. His family, academics and Nigerian literary community will miss his contributions to the growth of our national life.”