Ahmed Joda, seasoned administrator and elder statesman, is dead

Ahmed Joda, an elder statesman and seasoned public administrator, is dead.

Humwashi Wonosikou, chief press secretary (CPS) to Ahmadu Fintiri, governor of Adamawa state, confirmed the death to TheCable.

According to the CPS, the family notified the government that Joda passed away in Yola, Adamawa state capital, on Friday afternoon.

Born in 1930, Joda 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, Oyo state capital, and later as an agricultural officer in Yola before venturing into journalism at Gaskiya Corporation in Zaria, Kaduna.

He then attended Pitmans College, London from 1954 to 1956. On his return to Nigeria, he became a correspondent at the Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) from 1956 to 1960.

He later joined the northern regional government as a chief information officer and eventually became permanent secretary from 1962 to 1967.

He retired to private business during the Second Republic and served as chairman and board member of various companies including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Joda also served as chairman of the transition committee that ushered in President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in 2015.