Nigeria will not forget the sacrifices of Alhaji Ahmed Joda, one of the country’s three famous super permanent secretaries in the regime of retired Gen Yakubu Gowon, who passed away on Friday.
President Muhammadu Buhari made this declaration yesterday while paying glowing tributes to a man who he said helped to ensure the country’s unity in her trying days.
Joda, a pioneer civil servant, great statesman and patriot, died after a prolonged illness in his hometown, Yola, Adamawa State at the age of 91.
Also, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Secretary to the Federal Government, Boss Mustapha, mourned the late elder statesman, describing the last surviving member of Governor Hassan Usman’s Northern Nigeria cabinet as an astute administrator and detribalised Nigerian.
President Buhari highlighted Joda’s “monumental contributions to Nigeria’s unity and progress,” from birth of the nation until his death, saying, “his lofty ideals will continue to motivate millions across the nation.”
He noted that the late ‘Super Permanent Secretary’, as Joda and some of his colleagues were referred to in the 70s, “distinguished himself as a remarkable scholar, journalist, intellectual, public servant and farmer.”
President Buhari called Joda “a hero for all Nigerians” who, even in death, “will continue to inspire every generation to move forward with love, brotherhood and harmony.”
Buhari, in a condolence message by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, prayed to Allah to accept Joda’s good deeds and grant fortitude to those he left behind in his family, Adamawa Emirate Council and entire people of the state to bear the loss.
Also, Obasanjo, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, described the deceased as not just a Nigerian, but also a true and great Nigerian, who was committed to the unity, development and progress of the country.
He said: “Oh! What a heart breaking news, that my friend for well over 60 years have passed to the great beyond. If every Nigerian has the attributes of Joda, Nigeria will have been better than what it is now.
“Ahmed Joda, by his feature, did not need to tell you he is a Fulani man. But in everything I know he did, he lived not just as a Fulani man; he lived, he worked and he laboured as a true Nigerian. There are not many like him, and that was what strengthened our relationship since 1959,” Obasanjo said.
On his part, Mustapha described Joda as an astute administrator, journalist and businessman. He described Joda’s death as a personal loss, saying he derived inspiration and guidance from his wise counsel in the execution of government activities.
In a statement, yesterday, in Abuja, he recalled the sterling contributions of the deceased in 2015 when he was appointed the Chairman of the Presidential Transition Committee, which led to a successful transition.
He observed that Joda, who was a retired federal permanent secretary, carried out extensive reforms in the public service besides serving on the boards of various government agencies and private companies.
The SGFG, who also mourned Hajiya Hadiza Shagari, the widow of the late former president of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, who died last Thursday at 80 years, described the matriarch as a humble and dutiful wife of the late former president.
He expressed his sincere condolences to the Government and people of Adamawa and Sokoto states, the Sultan of Sokoto and the families of the deceased, praying that God grants the deceased Al-Jannah Firdaus.
