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.”
