WIKIPEDIA ON FESTUS IYAYI From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Festus Iyayi (born 1947, in Ugbegun in Ishan, died 12 November 2013) was a Nigerian writer known for his radical and sometimes tough stance on social and political issues. Iyayi employed a realistic style of writing, depicting the social, political and moral environment and system both the rich and poor live and work in. He was also a former president of the Association of Senior Staff of Universities (ASUU). He died in a road accident on his way to Kano.[1][2] Life and education Iyayi was born in Edo State, Nigeria. His family lived on little means but instilled in him strong moral lessons about life. Iyayi started his education at Annunciation Catholic College (ACC) in the old Bendel State, finishing in 1966, in 1967 he went to Government College Ughelli, graduating in 1968. In that same year he was a zonal winner in a Kennedy Essay Competition organised by the United States Embassy in Nigeria. Iyayi left Nigeria to pursue his higher education, obtaining a M.Sc in Industrial Economics from the Kiev Institute of Economics, in the former USSR, 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. At the time of his death in a road accident, Iyayi was a member of different Nigerian literary organizations and worked in the private sector as a consultant. Works Violence, Longman (1979). ISBN 0-582-64247-7 The Contract, Longman (1982). ISBN 0-582-78524-3 Heroes, Longman (c1986). ISBN 0-582-78603-7 Awaiting Court Martial, Ikeja, Lagos: Malthouse Press (1996). ISBN 978-2601-79-9 As we mourn the passage of this literary and political icon, we must continue to pray God to heal our land that consumes its heroes and heroines through the negligence and failure of our elected leaders and docility of the led. May his gentle soul continue to rest in peace
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 20:57:21 +0000