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Festus Iyayi (29 September 1947 – 12 November 2013) "Nigeria: Death of an Activist - Festus Iyayi (Sept 29, 1947 - November 12, 2013)", AllAfrica, 15 November 2013. was a Nigerian leftist writer, best known for advancing his politics through Literary realism novels depicting the sociopolitical environment of contemporary Nigeria. He was also a former president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).Wale Odunsi, "Former ASUU President, Prof Festus Iyayi, dies in auto accident", Daily Post, 12 November 2013. He died in a road accident on his way to Kano.Akeem Lasisi, "Festus Iyayi: Death at the peak of struggle" , Punch (Nigeria), 12 November 2013. "ASUU President, Uniabuja chapter mourn Festus Iyayi", Vanguard, 12 November 2013.
Iyayi left Nigeria to pursue his higher education, obtaining a M.Sc in Industrial Economics from the Kyiv Institute of Economics, in the former USSR (now Ukraine), and then his Ph.D from the University of Bradford, England. In 1980, he went back to Benin and became a lecturer in the Department of Business Administration at the University of Benin. As a member of staff of the university, he became interested in radical social issues, and a few years after his employment, he became the president of the local branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), a radical union known for its upfront style on academic and social welfare. He rose to the position of president of the national organization in 1986, but in 1988, the union was briefly banned and Iyayi was detained. In that same year he won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for his novel Heroes. He was later removed from his faculty position by the Alele Williams administration and he got back his job after winning the court case against the school authority and the government with the help of human rights lawyer Femi Falana.
Iyayi was one of the best lecturers at the Department of Business Administration, University of Benin. His students spanned from Undergraduates to Postgraduates. His interests included behavioural science in business, human resources management, key concepts such as work place alienation, Theory of needs, Work and task, Recruitment and Selection, different paradigms: radical, system, political etc. Dr Iyayi was a key resource person who delivered lectures in the University of Benin Business School (MBA), whose graduates can attest to the qualities of his lectures and supervisions.
He died in a car accident caused by a convoy of the then Kogi State governor Idris Wada while on his way to Kano State to attend the National Executive Council meeting of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) concerning a four-month strike embarked upon by the union.Edegbe Odemwingie, Kuni Tyessi, Ugochukwu Iroka, Patrick Ochoga and Achor Abimaje, "Nigeria: Strike May Linger As...Governor's Convoy Kills Festus Iyayi", AllAfrica, 13 November 2013. Iyayi was a member of different Nigerian literary organizations and worked in the private sector as a consultant.
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