By Ibrahim Awotunde
The Congress of University Academics (CONUA) has accused the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Christopher Piwuna, a professor, of giving a “deliberately incomplete” account of the late Professor Biodun Jeyifo’s intervention in the 2017 crisis that led to the formation of the breakaway union.
CONUA stated that the distinguished literary scholar personally demanded the withdrawal of expulsion letters as a condition for reconciliation.
A rebuttal issued on Monday, 2 March, and signed by CONUA’s national president, Niyi Sunmonu, provided what it described as authentic records of multiple meetings with the late Mr Jeyifo between late 2018 and 2019, when he travelled between the United States and Nigeria in an effort to mend the deep rift in ASUU’s 47-year history.
Contrary to the impression created in Mr Piwuna’s tribute titled “Biodun Jeyifo: The legend lives on” published in Premium Times on Sunday, 1 March, CONUA insisted that the late Mr Jeyifo placed greater responsibility on ASUU’s national leadership for the failed mediation.
“Those of us who sat with him during those meetings, and that was indeed a rare privilege, recall clearly his final assessment. He stated with characteristic candour that ASUU national leadership bore greater responsibility for the breakdown of his reconciliation efforts,”
The union stated that during those meetings, the scholar, who was a professor emeritus at Harvard University remarked that information presented to him by ASUU leaders did not fully reflect the realities of the situation.
The expulsion letters that sealed the split
CONUA revealed that the late Mr Jeyifo asked what minimum conditions would be required for members to return to ASUU. The union stated that it replied: ‘the withdrawal of expulsion letters.’ It added that this request was communicated to ASUU’s leadership but was not acted upon.
The union emphasised that the idea of CONUA followed the expulsions rather than preceding them. According to documents cited by the union, the expulsions arose from internal disputes at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) between 2016 and 2017 over branch leadership and financial governance. The national leadership’s involvement in the dispute resulted in the expulsion of several members who had raised concerns.
“ASUU was not formed to expel members”
CONUA quoted the late Mr Jeyifo as stating during one meeting that ASUU was not established as a union that expels members, describing the remark as a reminder of the organisation’s founding principles. The statement added that discussions with the scholar were conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect and open exchange.
The late literary scholar, a founding member of ASUU at the University of Ibadan in the 1970s, consistently maintained that the union was created as a broad platform for academic advocacy rather than an instrument for exclusion.
CONUA characterised the late Mr Jeyifo’s withdrawal from the mediation process as an act of integrity rather than failure, stating that he stepped aside when he believed trust had been undermined.
The union recalled an earlier intellectual exchange at Oduduwa Hall of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), where the scholar responded to a lecture by Nobel laureate ,Wole Soyinka with the remark: “Rightocracy or Leftocracy: take position!” CONUA described this as evidence of his lifelong commitment to intellectual clarity and principled engagement.
Untold account of the 2019 NEC presentation
CONUA disclosed that during a presentation to ASUU’s National Executive Council (NEC) in March 2019, the late Mr Jeyifo described the crisis at OAU as the most serious in ASUU’s history because it had reached the point of a potential breakaway.
He recommended what the union termed “fair assimilation without punishment” as a means of reconciliation. The proposal was not adopted, and CONUA subsequently sought registration under the Trade Unions Act, a decision upheld by the National Industrial Court (NIC).
In his tribute, Mr Piwuna praised the deceased as an intellectual giant who championed progressive unionism. He stated that the crisis could have been resolved had those seeking to break away accepted the scholar’s counsel.
CONUA used the statement to reaffirm its legitimacy, noting that its registration followed legal procedures and was upheld by NIC. The union argued that the emergence of multiple academic unions reflected the reality of plural representation in higher education.
Legacy of Professor Jeyifo
Mr Jeyifo died on 11 February after a brief illness at the age of 80. A retired academic from Harvard University, he authored influential works on African literature and cultural criticism. His final years were marked by concern over the direction of academic staff unionism in Nigeria.
In one of his last public lectures at the University of Ibadan in 2024, he warned against what he described as “the cannibalisation of progressive movements by those who mistake organisational loyalty for ideological commitment.”
CONUA’s statement concluded with a tribute that sought to reclaim the scholar’s legacy from what it termed “reductionist narratives.”
“Professor Jeyifo’s legacy is too important to be reduced to a one-sided narrative. He stood for truth, fairness, and the courage to name power imbalances even when inconvenient. We honour that legacy, as he is to be buried this week, by continuing to build responsibly and transparently, and by refusing to stay silent when the record needs correction.”
