USA Africa Dialogue Series - Just Before Professor Iyayi Is Buried

Brethren! He died and with his death, millions of souls are 'dead'. Brethren! He died the way mortals die: in silence. He died and lay still as if he was asleep. He died and becomes 'inebriated' not with alcohol but with the inimitable will and power of the owner of his soul. "Every soul shall taste death"(Q3: 185)

Brethren! Professor Iyayi died the way mortals die: suddenly. The Chief Messenger (!) in my Department, apparently driven by empathy over the loss, looked me straight in the eyes and said: 'Oga! Why should such good people die that kind of violent and an untimely death?" I kept silent for a while. Then I enthussed saying: "I appreciate your feeling and concern. I'm of the view that human beings are like those 'manufactured' products we see on sale in shopping malls. To every product is a date of production; to every item is an expiration date. Whereas most people celebrate the day they are born, that day is actually meant to remind them of their death days. Again, in Islam there is no sudden death; the 'product' will expire on its predetermined date. Each day the sun rises, we bid this world bye, and gradually too.

Brethren! Professor Iyayi died. He died the way most Nigerians die: on 'the roads of death'. He died on that same road where thousands have died; where others are dying. He died as a victim of a state in constant descent into infamy. He died in the 'hands' of those whose souls are dead to all conscience and sense of responsibility and accountability.

But brethren! Professor Iyayi actually died very much unlike the way most Nigerians die. He died in defense of an ideal. He died having a clear vision of what it means to live. He knew that to live is to give life to life.

Brethren! Iyayi died as an intellectual. The intellectual, Albert Einstein, reminds us, is "someone whose mind watches itself". He died as an intellectual whose vocation had no conclusion. His work consisted of asking questions, questions about life; questions with no definite but tentative answers.

Brethren! Iyayi died as one of the pillars of the Academic Staff Union of Universities in this country. ASUU, you would remember has become a union some people love to hate. It is that Union which has achieved renown for having a 'third' opinion on issues. ASUU is in the trenches today because it believes that, in line with Bertrand Russell, the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come through people feeling quite certain about something which, in fact, was false.

In other words, Brethren! Iyayi died while trying to ascertain the claims of those in power today that what is needed for the resuscitation of our Universities had been signed, sealed and delivered. The event of the past one week has shown that just as Iyayi would have canvassed, Nigerian intellectuals needed to decide the vexed question of whether to go back to classes in accordance with the 'evidence', or to leave that question undecided because the latter is inconclusive. The greatest challenge that Professor Iyayi would have confronted today, were he to be alive, is therefore, that of how would ASUU explain something which is glaringly evident but which most Nigerians have decided not to see. How would ASUU tell Nigerians that this government promised to revamp the decadent infrastructure in our Universities with a minimum of 200 billion every year beginning from 2012/2013 fiscal year but has failed to walk the talk? How would ASUU tell Nigerians that what it is asking government to do is simple: put the 200 billion under the safe custody of the Central Bank and let your 'trusted and tested' men and women put pen on paper in regard to how other items in the resolution would be discharged? How would ASUU tell Nigerians that the problem with the current government is not only that it lacks moral currency but that it anathemizes probity and honesty?

Brethren, I have had the opportunity of working in Universities in Asia and North America in the past. In those parts of the world, academics and scholars do not have to band together under one union before their governments do the needful for the universities. The little progress our universities have recorded in the past in the area of funding has been as a result of the strikes ASUU had embarked upon. Strikes are necessities, not luxuries. They have become the ace in response to the menace of governmental rascality and impunity.

 Meanwhile, dear Brethren, Professor Iyayi continues his lonely journey to eternity. He is now free. Yes, he is free of challenges you and I continue to face eking life from this hungry land. Iyayi is free of no light, no water, no security of life and property. Professor Iyayi is free of humiliation men of wisdom constantly suffer in the hands of charlatans who have cornered the nation's fortune. He is free from the threat of sack recently issued to us by the powers of today. Iyayi would have laughed the threat off. Remember he had been sacked and 'unsacked' before.

Brethren, this sermon is dedicated to the memory of Professor Iyayi today not necessarily because I am also a teacher in the University but in line with one of the fundamental principles of Islam. My religion affirms the universality of our humanity and encourages Muslims to appreciate those who strove to impact positively on people's life while on earth. Muslims who had close contacts with Professor Iyayi continue to shower praises on him for the value he added to their lives. According to them, Iyayi was incapable of evil. Whenever he spoke, it was for positive purposes. Compare his amiable character and humble carriage with the "oga on top". Whenever the latter talks, his speech is usually full of poison and verbiage. Ibn al-Qayyim says:"Hearts are like cooking pots. They will boil whatever is in them and the scooping spoons of these pots are the tongue. Henceforth, contemplate a person speech whenever he speaks. For sure, his tongue will scoop up for you what is simmering in his heart: whether it's (something) sweet or sour, fresh or stale". Men like Iyayi are as scarce as truth and honesty in this clime and time.