By Salihu
Moh. Lukman
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
severally and 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 late Dr. Mahmud Tukur, Prof. Iyayi, Prof. Attahiru Jega, Alh.
Hassan Sumonu, Alh. Ali Ciroma, Comrades Wahab Goodluck, Dapo Fatogun, 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 live 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 nongovernmental organizations that has 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
whoonly know Prof. Iyayi remotely, their response reflect a confusion of what
may happen to the expected suspension of the three months old ASUU strike.
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 border 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 Labaran Maku, current Minister of Information,
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
Labaran 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.
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 Labaran have taken individual decisions and may have forgotten
their own history.
This highlight 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.
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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