Tag: Ahmed Joda

  • Adamawa; Atiku mourns Ahmed Joda, Says He’s A Unifier

    Adamawa; Atiku mourns Ahmed Joda, Says He’s A Unifier

    By Musa Isa Ahmed

    Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has described late Ahmed Joda, a retired super Permanent Secretary as a unifier whose contributions has ensured unity of the country.

    He stated this when he paid a condolence visit to the family of late Ahmed Joda in Yola South local government area of Adamawa state on Friday to offer his condolences over the demise of the elder statesman.
    Alhaji Abubakar who holds the title of Waziri Adamawa described the deceased as a disciplined, trustworthy and detrabilized leader who spent his lifetime to the service of the country.

    The former Vice President consoled the bereaved family in the fact that their patriach had a well life spent and urged them to remember him in prayers as death is inevitable to every mortal.

    Abubakar on behalf of himself, family and American University of Nigeria commiserated with the family and prayed to God to forgive the shortcomings of late Ahmed Joda and grant him Aljannah.

    Responding on behalf of the family, the Galadima Adamawa, Alhaji Mustafa Aminu thanked the former Vice President for identifying with the family at its moment grief.

    He said the late Ahmed Joda was a hero, patriot, stressing that the family and the people will never forget his lofty contributions towards the unity and development of the country.

    The former Vice President who returned to Nigeria this week rushed in to Yola to condole with the family after he attended wedding Fatiha of the son of President Muhammadu Buhari in Kano.

    The Waziri Adamawa was accompanied during the condolence visit by Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, his associates and other senior state government officials.

  • Super Nigerian permanent Secretary in Military regime – Ahmed Joda profile

    Super Nigerian permanent Secretary in Military regime – Ahmed Joda profile

    By Musa Isa Ahmed

    Ahmed Joda was born in Yola to a Fulani family in 1930, his great-great-grandfather was Modibbo Raji, a 19th-century Islamic scholar and contemporary of Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio. He attended Yola Elementary School and Yola Middle School before proceeding to Barewa College from 1945 to 1948. He worked briefly at Moor Plantation in Ibadan, and later as an agricultural officer in Yola before entering the field of journalism at Gaskiya Corporation in Zaria. He then attended Pitmans College, London from 1954 to 1956. On his return, he became a correspondent at the Nigerian Broadcasting Service from 1956 to 1960.

    He then joined the Northern regional government as a Chief Information Officer then later Permanent Secretary from 1962 to 1967. In 1967, following the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War, he was seconded to the Federal Civil Service as a Permanent Secretary serving in the Federal Ministries of Information, Education, and Industries, where he retired in 1978. He then retired into private business during the Second Nigerian Republic, where he served as chairman and board member of various companies including the: Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Nigerian Communications Commission, Pastoral Resolve, SCOA, Nigeria, Chagoury Group, Flour Mills of Nigeria, and the Nigerian LNG.

    He was also a member of the 1988 Constituent Assembly which planned the constitutional transition of the Third Nigerian Republic. In 1999, he was appointed as a member of the Committee to Advise the Presidency on Poverty Alleviation and in 2015, headed the Muhammadu Buhari presidential transition.

    He died in Yola, Nigeria on 13 August 2021, after a brief illness.

  • Tributes Pour In For Ahmed Joda

    Tributes Pour In For Ahmed Joda

    An elder statesman, Alhaji Ahmed Joda, has passed away. He died on Friday at the age of 91.

    The retired federal permanent secretary passed on at the Federal Medical Centre, Yola, Adamawa State, where he spent one week on admission.

    He was buried at the Yola cemetery in accordance with Islamic tradition.

    He is survived by four children, among them a humanitarian, Asma’u Joda, Bilkisu, Aliyu and Abubakar.

    During an interview, Asmau told Daily Trust Saturday in an emotion-laden voice that she missed everything about her father because he meant everything to her and the family.

    Also, Abubakar Joda described his father as a statesman who sacrificed everything to make Nigeria great.

    Late Ahmed Joda

    “He was a father to most Nigerians; therefore, the loss is quite universal. We have received calls from virtually all over the world.

    “He loved Nigeria more than anything. He was an astute man, very straightforward and did all his best at any time,” he said.

    The driver to the deceased in the last 41 years, Ahmed Ja-Allah, described his late boss as calm, caring, straightforward, hard working and honest.

    “He hated corruption and bribery. Workers’ welfare was always his priority. As soon as it was 30th day of the month, he would not relent until every worker was paid,” he said.

    A condolence message by the chief press secretary to the Adamawa State governor, Ahmadu Umar Fintiri, Humwashi Wunosikou, eulogised Joda as an epitome of discipline and integrity.

    A journalist, Abdullahi Tasiu Abubakar said, “Ahmed Joda was a well-respected elder statesman who was greatly admired, not just in his home state of Adamawa but throughout the country. He was simple, straightforward and honest.

    “I remembered when I interviewed him in Yola several years ago; he was frank in his discussion. He was a man with great ideas on many issues: education, agriculture, sustainable development and so on. If his ideas had been used, Nigeria would not have been witnessing the herders-farmers clashes that are now bedevilling the country.”

    Born in 1930, Joda had his early education at Yola Elementary and Middle School before proceeding to the Barewa College to complete his secondary education in 1948. He worked briefly at Moor Plantation in Ibadan.

    Having received journalism training at the Pitsman College, London in the 1950s, he got his first journalism job at Gaskiya Corporation, Zaria, before his subsequent appointment as the editor of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) in Kaduna.

    He joined the northern Nigeria civil service as chief information officer and rose to become a permanent secretary before moving to Lagos in 1967 to become a federal permanent secretary.

    He was one of the powerful civil servants known as super permanent secretaries in the 1970s, who played an important role during and after the Nigerian civil war.

    After the war, Joda was seconded to the Ministry of Education to help undertake the rehabilitation of facilities in the old East-Central region. That was also the time the ministry was in the process of establishing the Nigerian Universities Commission (NBC) and involved in the launch of the Universal Basic Education.

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Joda on the Presidential Policy Advisory Committee headed by General Theophilus Danjuma (retd).

    In 2015, the incoming President Muhammadu Buhari entrusted Joda with the chairmanship of the 18-member transition committee that coordinated the transfer of power from the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan to Buhari. Earlier in 1979, he chaired the transition committee when General Obasanjo handed over power to the civilian government of President Shehu Shagari. He was also the permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industry.

    Joda served as chairman and member of several governments and private bodies, including the National Communications Commission (NCC), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Pastoral Resolve, SCOA Nigeria, LNG and the Nigeria Flour Mills.

    He served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, and until his death, the principal owner, Benue Valley Farms.

    He was a hero – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari has described Joda as a hero. In a tribute to the last surviving member of the cabinet of late Governor Hassan Usman, Buhari said that even in death, Joda “will continue to inspire every generation to move forward with love, brotherhood and harmony.”

    In a statement issued on Friday by his media aide, Garba Shehu, Buhari highlighted Joda’s contributions to Nigeria’s unity and progress.

    He prayed to Allah to accept his good deeds and grant fortitude to those he left behind in his family, the Adamawa Emirate Council and the entire people of the state to bear the loss.

    Nigerians need Joda’s attributes – Obasanjo

    Also paying tribute to the late Joda, former President Olusegun Obasanjo described him as a great Nigerian who was committed to unity, development and progress of the country.

    In a statement made available to our correspondent in Abeokuta by his special assistant on media, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo noted, “If every Nigerian had the attributes of Joda, Nigeria would have been better than what it is now.”

    He noted that Joda and other “super permanent secretaries” preserved the unity of Nigeria shortly after the country’s upheaval in 1966.

    Joda was the chancellor of Bells University, Otta, and had about 60 years of friendship with Obasanjo.

    An iroko has fallen – Atiku

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar also described Joda as a colossus and an iroko tree in Nigeria and the North.

    Atiku said he received the news of his death with shock though he lived to a prime age. He noted that the former permanent secretary was among the first generation of people who put Adamawa State and the North on the map of modern Nigeria.

    “Ahmed Joda, with few of his peers, wrote the rule book of Nigeria’s civil service. His footprints will remain indelible.

    “As we mourn this great Nigerian with immense contribution to the growth of our country, we pray that the Almighty Allah accepts his soul and provides his family with the fortitude to bear the loss,” he stated.

    He was a national hero – Yakasai

    An elder statesman, Tanko Yakasai, also described the late Joda as a very dedicated Nigerian and a national hero.

    Speaking in an interview on Saturday, Yakasai said Joda was one of the most committed to Nigeria’s unity and progress.

    Joda’s death closes a great era – Gov AbdulRazaq

    Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State has described the death of Joda as the “end of a great era,” calling him one of the best public administrators in the post-independent Nigeria.

    In a condolence message on Friday, the governor hailed the former NCC chairman as a patriot with sterling records of integrity and service to the nation.

    “He belonged to the generation of Nigerians who gave their all to birth a greater country.

    “His death is painful. It is a personal loss to me as one of his ‘adopted sons’ and protégées,” Abdulrazaq added.

    The governor prayed Allah to grant him paradise and give the family the fortitude to bear “this huge loss.”

    Also, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, expressed sorrow over the death of Joda.

    In a statement by his media aid, Willie Bassey, on Friday, Mustapha described the death of Joda as a personal loss as he derived inspiration and guidance from his wise counsel in the execution of government’s activities.

    He recalled his sterling contribution in 2015 when he was appointed the chairman of the Presidential Transition Committee, which led to a successful transition.

    The SGF also mourns the passing away of Hajiya Hadiza Shagari, the widow of the late former president of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari. He described the matriarch as a humble and dutiful wife.

    He sent his condolence to the government and people of Adamawa and Sokoto states, the Sultan of Sokoto, and their families, praying God to grant the deceased Al-Jannah Firdaus.

    Both Joda and Hajiya Hadiza have since been buried according to Islamic rites in Yola and Abuja respectively.

    The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) says it has been thrown into deep mourning following the death of Joda, whom the Forum described as a pillar on which the northern region and Nigeria relied in times of turbulence.

    The ACF also described the late Joda as a calm, honest, soft-spoken but firm public servant, saying Nigeria has lost a great civil servant and patriot.

    In a statement issued by the national publicity secretary of the ACF, Emmanuel Yawe, it was noted that because of the influence they had on General Yakubu Gowon, the then head of state, Joda and others were nicknamed “Super Permanent Secretaries.”