Former ASUU Chairman dies from throat cancer…

Professor Ndubuisi Idenyi, a former Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) chairman at Ebonyi State University and ex-Vice Chancellor of the First African Distance Learning University, has died after a battle with throat cancer, according to Legit.ng.

The Professor of Materials Science and Engineering died on Saturday, October 3, 2026. In a condolence message dated October 6, the Igboesa General Assembly, signed by President General Tony Edeh and Secretary General Joel Ebenyi, said it received the news with “profound shock and deep sorrow.”

The group called him a proud son of Nkalaha Community and described his death as a major loss to his family and the academic world.

Community stakeholder Ojiabor Igboesa, in a Facebook post, questioned the medical care available to the late professor and criticised Nigeria’s healthcare priorities. He noted that Ebonyi has over twenty flyovers but no functional general hospital outside the Federal Teaching Hospital.

Ojiabor also alleged that Idenyi was suspended without pay in 2016 over demands for unpaid promotions, and that a 2023 court order for his withheld salaries was not enforced until 2025. These claims could not be independently verified.

Idenyi authored over 80 publications in international journals. Ojiabor remembered him as “a mentor, a gentle soul, a beacon of humility and brilliance.”