‘Jonathan’s govt. shameless, has no honour’: Prof. Iyayi’s last words on public duty as an activist...

NEWS EXPRESS

LATE FESTUS IYAYI, FORMER ASUU PRESIDENT

Former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Festus Iyayi, died a sad man over the way the Goodluck Jonathan administration is treating the education sector. Iyayi, 66, who died Tuesday in a road accident on his way to Kano for the now-postponed National Executive Council meeting of ASUU, was so embittered that he described the administration as one that is “shameless and has no honour” during his last public outing as an activist.
Characteristic of him, Iyayi was in the forefront during a protest staged in Benin by the University of Benin (UNIBEN) chapter of ASUU on October 24 to sensitise the public on why the union has remained on strike since July 1 over government’s failure to honour the 2009 agreement signed with ASUU.
Reporting on that protest, the Lagos-based PM NEWS said the award-winning novelist took a swipe at the chairman of the federal government negotiating team and Governor of Benue State, Mr. Gabriel Suswan whom he claimed has turned himself into contractor, saying, “Even Suswan had said he would personally build and supervise the hostels at an outrageous rate from the proceeds of the proposed N100 billion.”
Iyayi, according to the paper, wondered why President Jonathan would chair the commissioning and fund raising for a private tertiary institution when public universities have been on strike for four months, saying: “This government is shameless and has no honour.”
Iyayi’s death in an accident involving the convoy of Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State, has forced the indefinite postponement of the ASUU NEC Meeting to deliberate on President Jonathan’s fresh offer to end the five-month strike.