“In my understanding acts of violence are committed when a man is denied the opportunity of being educated, of getting a job, of feeding himself and his family properly, of getting medical attention cheaply, quickly and promptly.
We often do not realize that it is the society, the type of economic and hence the political system which we are operating in our country today that brutalizes the individual, raped his manhood.
We often do not realize that when such men of poor limited opportunities react, they are only in a certain measure, answering violence with violence.
What I would like to see, however, is not just a handful of men to take up arms to rob one individual. I feel and think it is necessary that all oppressed sections of our community ought to take up arms to overthrow the present oppressive system. The system has already proved that it operates through violence.”
—-Festus Iyayi.
Violence
Longman Group Ltd 1979.
Comrade Prof. Festus Iyayi, died on 12th November 2013 in a ghastly motor accident caused by a reckless 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.
Iyayi was a member of different Nigerian literary organizations and worked in the private sector as a consultant.
