ASUU, TUC, Ribadu mourn Festus Iyayi

The Academic Staff Union of Universities on Tuesday mourned the death of its former President, Dr. Festus Iyayi.
Iyayi, a renowned writer, a lecturer and an activist, was on his way to Kano to attend the national congress of the union when the car he was travelling in got involved in an accident.
The President of ASUU, Dr. Nasir Fagge, had earlier confirmed the death of the unionist to reporters.
Fagge said: “The sad news was broken to the union in the morning of November 12.”
According to reports, Iyayi was killed when a car in the motorcade of Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State rammed into his vehicle near Lokoja.
He was said to have died instantly.
Reacting to the news of the demise of his predecessor, Fagge told the News Agency of Nigeria in a telephone interview that he was shocked and could not utter a word.
He said: “I cannot say anything right now.
“We have just lost one of our own, Festus Iyayi, who was very dear to us.
“I am mourning.”
The immediate past President of the union, Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, said the news came to him as a rude shock and was still in doubt if it was true.
Awuzie, now the Vice-Chancellor, Imo State University, also told NAN on the telephone that he had been trying to get information on the circumstances surrounding the death of Iyayi.
He said: “I know the NEC executives of the union should be on their way to Kano, but I am still expecting the details of the death.
“Until I get full details on the circumstances of his death, I might not be able to say much.”
Born in 1947 in Ugbegun, Ishan in Edo, late Iyayi obtained a Masters Degree in Industrial Economics from the Kiev Institute of Economics in the former USSR.
He became a lecturer in 1980 at the Department of Business Administration, University of Benin.
Iyayi, who was the ASUU president in 1986, was also a known author, with four books to his credit.
The late unionist won the Commonwealth Prize for Literature for one of his book “Heroes” in 1988.
The title of other books to his credit are Violence, The Contract and Awaiting Court Martial.
The Trade Union of Congress of Nigeria said it received with shock the news of the death of comrade Iyayi.
The TUC said in a statement: “The Congress feels particularly pained that the comrade died while reportedly travelling to ensure the resolution of the 4 months old strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Comrade Iyayi was a dogged fighter and crusader of justice. He will be remembered for his service to the working people and humanity. The labour movement has lost a tested and committed activist of decent work.
“Only two weeks ago the Congress appealed to the Federal Government to end the ASUU strike as if we had a premonition of what will happen little did we know that the strike will claim the life of our indefatigable leader and an ardent believer in the struggle for the emancipation of workers.
“Ah! But for the strike, Comrade Festus as well as students should be in the lecture room going about their academic works and not on the road. Festus’ death was avoidable; he is a victim of Nigeria’s crisis of governance.
“More painful is the fact over the years the Congress has decried the poor state of our roads but our pleas feel on deaf ears. The said Kogi-Lokoja that claimed the life of our comrade has been under construction and rehabilitation for almost a decade without any headway despite serial awards of contracts by various Federal governments. This is one death too many.
“The Congress condoles with the leadership of ASUU, the Edo people and all the progressives in the country.”
The statement was signed by the President of the TUC, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama, and the Secretary General, Comrade Musa Lawal.
The 2011 presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu has described the death of Iyayi as shocking and a monumental loss to the country.
In a statement by his media aide, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, Ribadu described late Iyayi, who died while on his way to attend ASUU congress in Kano, as a committed unionist who spent his life fighting for a just society and died in the course of it.
He said the late academic paid his dues in all the callings he chose for himself as a writer, academic and unionist.
“But more edifying fact is that he tailored all the three personas into one direction – that of struggle for a better society,” he said.
“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. Personally, I have lost a friend who was always willing to provide a pillar of support,” Ribadu added.
Iyayi’s literary works deal with issues that border on challenges facing the Nigerian poor that are still with the larger populace, Ribadu said, adding that Iyayi’s novels treat issues of labour relations, insensitive economic policies and dangers of individualism from a pragmatic Marxist stand.
As a mark of respect and immortalisation of the memory of late Iyayi, Ribadu repeated his call on the Federal Government to immediately bring an end to the lingering ASUU strike and move to improve the standard of the universities, a cause the late unionist died fighting for.