Angry leaders of the Academic Staff
Union of Universities allegedly chased
away the Governor of Kogi State,
Captain Idris Wada (retd.) from the
emergency ward of the Lokoja General
Hospital on Tuesday.
Wada had gone to the hospital to visit
their injured colleague, Dr. Ngozi Ilo,
and commiserate with them over the
death of their former President, Prof.
Festus Iyayi, in an accident involving
his convoy and an ASUU vehicle on
Tuesday.
The Chairman, University of Benin
chapter of ASUU, Dr. Anthony Monye-
Emina; and the Benin Zonal Coordinator,
Dr. Sunny Iyalo, had minor injuries and
were therefore not admitted into the
hospital.
The ASUU leaders, including the
National President, Dr. Biodun
Ogunyemi; the Ibadan Zonal
Coordinator, Dr. Nassir Adesola; the
Chairman, Lagos State University
chapter of the union, Dr. Adekunle
Idris; Monye-Emina; Iyalo and
lecturers from the Federal University
Lokoja however sent the governor away
from the hospital’s emergency ward.
Their grouse was Wada’s late response
to the accident and the uncaring
attitude he allegedly displayed towards
the union leaders involved in the
accident.
They also accused him of trying to make
a political gain out of their misfortune.
Idris, who confirmed that Wada was
chased out of the emergency ward,
said, “We are surprised that a state
governor could resort to telling lies
because contrary to the claim by his
spokesperson that he showed care
towards our colleagues, he did not.
“Somebody that did not stop after his
convoy killed our leader; somebody that
did not come to the hospital until some
minutes to 5pm(on Tuesday) after the
accident that happened around 11am
could not be said to be caring.
“That was why we chased him out of the
emergency ward of the hospital and we
also prevented him from seeing Prof.
Iyayi’s corpse in the mortuary.
“We are not happy with the fact that he
came very late to the hospital and the
fact that when he came, his press crew
attempted to take photograph and
video record of Dr. Ilo, who is our
national welfare secretary. We stopped
them because that was the height of
insensitivity.
“Somebody that could not provide us
with an ambulance cannot be said to be
caring. We had to call UNIBEN for an
ambulance that took Ilo to the UNIBEN
Teaching Hospital while our colleagues
from the Federal University, Lokoja,
with the assistance of the vice-
chancellor, gave us the ambulance that
was used to convey the remains of Prof.
Iyayi to Benin.”
Idris added that though Wada left the
hospital “like a gentleman,” some of his
overzealous security aides tried to be
naughty.
He said, “Some of the policemen that
followed him to the hospital wanted to
be naughty but we lectured them. The
hospital workers and the residents of
Lokoja who witnessed how we chased
the governor away were happy.”
Also, Adesola expressed dismay at the
efforts made by the governor to
rewrite the incident.
He said, “It was actually the last of the
governor’s convoy that veered off the
road and ran into a vehicle that was
conveying Iyayi and others.
“When the governor’s convoy came
with noise and harassment, everyone
on the road moved to the side of the
road for them to pass but
unfortunately, the governor’s aide has
told the world that an ASUU vehicle
was avoiding a trailer and ran into their
escort vehicle.
“What manner of reckless lying is that?
The front of the ASUU bus remains
intact except for the windscreen that
broke. Iyayi was sitting at the back of
the bus and the escort van ran into it.
The most annoying part is that the
incident occurred around 11am and the
governor did not even visit the hospital
until around 5pm.
“He came with a large number of
pressmen and security aides and was
attempting to make some political
capital out of our misfortune.
“We actually had to chase him away
from the emergency ward where our
welfare secretary was still receiving
treatment .”
But Jacob Edi, the Special Adviser, Media
and Strategy to Wada, claimed that the
ASUU leaders did not chase his boss
away from the hospital.
Edi, who in a telephone interview with
one of our correspondents, insisted that
Wada was not indifferent to the plight
of the accident victims, however,
stated that the union officials were not
friendly.
He said, “When the governor went to
the hospital, the ASUU people had a
kind of adverse reaction to the
governor. But they did not chase away
the governor. Nobody chased away
anybody.”
The governor’s spokesman added that
the state government would not want
to be involved in controversy over the
death of the former ASUU president.
He stated that Wada was pained by the
accident and had been sympathising
with the bereaved families and the
survivors.
It was however not only the ASUU
leaders that lambasted the governor
over the accident, the Nigeria Labour
Congress, a former President of the
Trade Union Congress, Mr. Peter Esele
and an ex-Commissioner of Police in
Lagos State, Mr. Abubakar Tsav, also
did.
They described Wada’s convoy as
reckless and demanded the
prosecution of the driver of the escort
vehicle that caused the accident on the
Lokoja-Abuja Road.
The NLC, in a statement in Abuja by its
National President, Mr. Abdulwahed
Omar, described the death of Iyayi as
avoidable.
It also blamed the Federal Government
for its neglect of the road.
The NLC said its position was that the
federal and Kogi State governments
were responsible for Iyayi’s death.
It said that 10 years after the contract
for the rehabilation of the Lokoja-Abuja
Road was awarded, it had been turned
to a death trap.
The NLC said, “Iyayi’s death leaves a
sour taste in the mouth and it is totally
avoidable. It is blameable, lawlessness/
impunity on the part of the Kogi State
governor, who is fast acquiring for
himself an accident-prone reputation.
The congress therefore advised “siren-
blowing and terror-dealing convoys” to
be conscious of other road users.
It called on the Federal Roads Safety
Corps and the Nigeria Police to ensure
that those behind the accident were
brought to justice.
Esele and Tsav urged the relevant
authorities to ensure that the convoy
driver involved in the accident was
prosecuted.
They spoke in different telephone
interviews with our correspondents.
According to them, Wada has a
responsibility to caution his drivers as
his convoy has become reputed for
recklessness.
Esele recalled that the convoy of the
governor was involved in an accident
which resulted in the death of Wada’s
Aide de Camp and in which Wada was
also injured.
Tsav, who described the death of the
former ASUU leader as unfortunate,
called on President Goodluck Jonathan
to meet the demands of ASUU.
This, he said, would be in appreciation
of the fact that Iyayi died while
contributing to the development of
university education in the country.
Tsav said that accidents occurred in
Kogi State not because the roads in Kogi
were the worst but because the drivers
in the governor’s convoy were not
cautious.
He said that the roads were not meant
only for the political office holders but
for all Nigerians.
He said, “The convoy of Wada is known
for being reckless; this is not the first
time this is happening. It does not
mean that the worst roads are in Kogi
State.
“I want to appeal to him to caution his
drivers, they are reckless, he should
caution them to be cautious on the
roads, the roads belong to every
Nigerian.”
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