POLITICIANS,
a cross-section of members of the academic community and members of
civil society organisations yesterday honoured former President of the
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), late Prof Festus Iyayi,
just as they booed one of the officiating clergymen during the
lying-in-state ceremony for the late activist at the Akin Deko Main
Auditorium of the University of Benin (UNIBEN).The burial rites took a different dimension when one of the seven officiating priests at the ceremony, Fr. Andrew Obiyan, drew the ire of almost everybody in the hall when he posited that ASUU should have a rethink about its five month-old strike, saying many of the members were already tired of the “fight”.
Reading from portions of the Bible, Obiyan praised Iyayi’s tenacity of purpose, courage and sense of dedication to duty, which he said contributed to the “hero” he became in life and in death.
He went on to call on ASUU members to reconsider their position so as not to continue to be at the receiving end.
“The death of the faithful is precious in the eyes of God. So, I want to admonish the family not to think of the pain of death, but think about the bright promise of immortality,” the clergyman said.
Obiyan, however, agitated the crowd to boo him when he said: “Finally, I want to thank God because (ASUU) has become the voice of the voiceless today. May that voice never die! But I want to remind you that there is no success without sacrifice. For Jesus to gain the whole world, he had to give up his life. We give up to go up.
“My humble appeal to you, as a minister of God, is to kindly request you, in the name of God, to please surrender the tool of power. Do not give the Federal Government the privilege of satisfaction of fighting and defeating you.
“I encourage you to surrender first in this fight. You have made your point eloquently and clear enough. Sincere and intelligent Nigerians will consider what you have done and will forever appreciate you for it.
“Your surrender at this time, as a tool of power, is the sign of strength; it is not a sign of weakness.
“Our relationship with God, our father, shows that faith and trust navigate.
“We may not trust the Federal Government, owing to her antecedents. But I humbly request you to please trust her now.”
Speaking with journalists at the end of the ceremony, ASUU President, Dr. Nasri Fagge, said reaction from the crowd was enough attestation to the mood of majority of union members on the matter.
He said: “We were told here at this gathering there were some fundamental issues that bother the mind of our late comrade, as to the future of the struggle. For me, it is left for us to rally round those ideals and advance his legacies.
“You saw the reaction of the crowd to what was said about suspending the struggle, and that to me, said it all.”
Recalling some of his past encounters with the late Iyayi, Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, said: “Iyayi spoke truth to power, just as much as he spoke truth with his colleagues.”
