The name Festus Iyayi symbolizes struggle for
academic freedom, democratization of our
educational system, national development and
socialism.
He was the President of Academic Staff Union of
University (ASUU) in the 1980s and in 1987, under
his leadership, the Babangida administration
banned ASUU, terminated the employment of Prof.
Iyayi from University of Benin and subsequently
arrested, detained and tortured him.
It is to the credit of Prof. Iyayi and ASUU leadership
that ASUU survived those repressive measures and
is operating based on its founding principles. Most
organizations, even when they survive, hardly are
able to make any claims to values.
No doubt, the 1980s was a defining period for
popular organizations in Nigeria. It was a period
that the Federal Government, under the military,
virtually declared a war against freedom to organize
and, to that extent, declared leaders of
organizations as subversives.
In the circumstance, organizations like ASUU,
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and National
Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) faced
direct attacks especially under military rule
between1984 and 1999. During this period, these
organizations were banned severallyand the
leadership persecuted, victimized, arrested and
detained without trials for months.
Laws were promulgated by government to justify
these and in some cases, these laws besides
coming with ouster clauses that disqualify our
courts from entertaining cases bordering on
enforcement of fundamental rights of victims (most
of whom are leaders of these organizations), they in
some cases even face charges of life and death
sentences.
Without any questions, the capacity of organizations
to survive those dark periods was challenged and
leaders like the late Dr. Mahmud Tukur, Prof. Iyayi,
Prof. Attahiru Jega, Alh. Hassan Sumonu,Alh. Ali
Ciroma, Comrades Wahab Goodluck, Dapo Fatogun,
the late Chris Abashi, Lanre Arogundade, Hilkiya
Bubajoda, Emma Ezeazu and many others were
illustrious in their contributions.
ASUU provided the intellectual foundation for the
radical orientation of these organizations to resist
and outlive military rule. Sadly, NANS is way distant
from its radical nationalist orientation of the 1980s.
NLC lives in virtually its old glory. Both for NANS
and NLC, values may just be limited to bearing a
“Comrade” title with hardly any meaning.
More than any organization, ASUU has remained
consistent and was able to grow a community of
leaders with organic links to wider society. Unlike
NLC and NANS, the community of leaders in ASUU
have till today sustained ASUU’s organizational
focus, orientation and commitment to broader
values of national development, which has
underpinned its demands and struggles over the
years. In the Nigerian context, ASUU is one of the
few non-governmental organizations that have
been consistent and in many respect still linked to
all its leadership since it was founded.
It was this link that explains Prof. Iyayi’s role and
why he was traveling for ASUU NEC meeting on the
fateful day, Tuesday, November 12 and lost his life.
The pain of Iyayi’s loss has made many of us to ask
questions that are at best immaterial. Of course,
for many who only knew Prof. Iyayi remotely, their
response reflect a confusion of what may happen to
the expected suspension of the three months old
ASUU strike.
‘Iyayi made us’
For those us who were privileged to know Prof.
Iyayi, I am not sure any word can convey our
feeling. It is a feeling that borders on admiration,
respect and obedience. I was privileged to serve as
NANS President 1988/89 at a time when Students’
Unions were banned in almost all tertiary
institutions in the country.
In July 1988 when we were elected, our primary
mandate was the re-activation of Students’ Union
structures in the country. In the face of repressive
measures, a team of more than 20 students leaders
from all over the country was basically reduced to a
team of four. The first person that resigned from
that Exco was the NANS Secretary whose father
being a Deputy Commissioner of Police was
threatened.
For many of us, it was a period that exposed us to
the fact that there are Nigerians that have broken
all barriers and risen above all primordial
sentiments. These Nigerians related with us in very
special ways. Although not older than their children,
they discussed every issue with us with respect,
treated us like their peers, which in many respects
challenged our intellect. In the process, we had
good access to academic literature.
Prof. Iyayi, the community of intellectuals in ASUU,
patriotic leaders of NLC and other Nigerians really
made us who we are today. Without the support of
these people, many of us who grow through the
ranks of the student movement would have simply
evaporated into the confused Nigerian society that
recognizes no skill or talent.
Unfortunately, some of us who are privileged to find
themselves in the corridors of power forget this
fact. A good example was the way one of us in the
current government described Dr. Dipo Fashina as a
“character” during the January 2012 fuel subsidy
strike. This was to say the least an uncharitable
statement coming from somebody who was a
product of the sacrifices of people like Iyayi and
Dipo. As brothers and comrades, we have a
responsibility to be brutally frank to each other.
Calamity
Part of the calamity that has befallen us is the fact
that we made very stupid mistakes on account of
which some of our best are today serving one of
the worst governments produced in this country. I
am certain this will be contested largely on
opportunistic grounds. However, I can accept that,
at the end of it all, the basis of all justifications is
simply our stupid mistakes of not engaging the
Abdulsalami transition programme in1998 in an
organized way. On account of this mistake, people
like the comrade now in government have taken
individual decisions and may have forgotten their
own history.
This highlights a strong disconnect between those of
us who have passed through the mentorship of
people like Iyayi. One cannot but salute the
capacity of that old community of leaders that
include Prof. Iyayi, Dr. Fashina, Prof. Olorode, Alh.
Sumonu, etc. Somehow,these leaders must be
going through traumatizing experiences of having to
absorb all these shocks and continue to provide
unwavering leadership in the struggles for Nigeria’s
development.
Part of the criticism against ASUU is the fact that it
has only one weapon of fighting bad governance
and dictatorship. That weapon is STRIKE. Under
democracy, there are other weapons, which include
lobbying National Assembly. Of course, given the
realities facing us, it is legitimate to have low
confidence with respect to outcomes of
engagement with National Assembly. There is also
the fact that strikes have worked very well for
ASUU. Since the early 1990s, all ASUU strikes have
succeeded in terms of winning demands. In some
ways therefore, ASUU and its leadership are only
responding instinctively.
Options to strike
Perhaps, we need to find ways of engaging some of
our leaders and mentors such that they are
challenged to act more logically and scientifically. I
have no direct answers with respect to this but I
believe that strike, especially the current one, may
not be the best logical and scientific answer to the
problem of breach of contractual agreement. There
are certainly other solutions. The best tribute we
can give to Prof. Iyayi is for us all as a nation to
commit ourselves to finding all the options at our
disposal to address the problem of irresponsible
conducts of our governments and leaders.
Prof. Iyayi would have been very much alive with
us today but for the irresponsible conduct of our
federal government to breach the agreement it
willfully entered into with ASUU. On account of that
breach, unquantifiable amount of resources have
been wasted, including loss of lives. The loss of
Prof. Iyayi is the high point. May it be the turning
point such that as a people we are able to commit
ourselves to rescuing this country? May the death
of Prof. Iyayi awaken all of us to the need to
discover new ways and methods of solving all our
societal problems especially those created by the
irresponsible conducts of our governments and
leaders. Finally, may the death of Prof. Iyayi serve
as the watershed in the struggle for higher
education in the country such that strikes become
the remotest of weapons and least employed?
Rest in peace Prof. Festus Iyayi!
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