President Muhammadu Buhari has joined growing list of influential Nigerians to pay tributes to pioneer civil servant and elder statesman Alhaji Ahmed Joda, who died after a prolonged illness in his hometown, Yola, Adamawa State at the age of 91.
The Governor Ahmadu Fintiri led Adamawa State Government, former president Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubaka also mourned the late elder statesman, describing him 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.”
“We will not forget his sacrifices,” he added. He also 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.”
The governor prayed for the repose of the soul of the deceased and for Almighty Allah to grant the family, friends and associates the fortitude to bear the loss.
“Joda was a father and statesman, who displayed genuine love to all and sundry,” Fintiri said.
In a condolence message by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari 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.
Obasanjo, while reacting to Joda’s death 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.
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar in a statement he personally signed and released on Friday said: “Today, our beautiful Adamawa State has lost a colossus. Indeed, an iroko tree has fallen in Nigeria, particularly Northern Nigeria.
The news of the death of Alhaji Ahmed Joda, CFR comes with some kind of a jolt even though he lived to a prime age.
He belonged to the first generation of Adamawa indigenes who put our state and the North in the map of modern Nigeria.
His stature as an accomplished administrator was towering and colourful. He was a shining star in the galaxy of Nigeria’s public servants.
Ahmed Joda, with a few of his peers, wrote the rule book of Nigeria’s civil service and 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 fortitude to bear the loss of a forthright and iconic patriarch.”