IBB, Abdulsalami, Etsu Nupe To Pay Virtual Tributes Wednesday, December 23
Service Of Songs Holds Sunday, December 27 At Abuja ICC
Burial Date Remains Monday, December 28
By Cordel Pam (Society/Media Reporter)
Details of the burial program of the late Publisher/Chairman of LEADERSHIP Newspapers Group, Sam Nda-Isaiah, will commence on Wednesday, December 23, 2020, according to a family statement on Sunday.
Sam Nda-Isaiah passed on in Abuja on Friday, December 11, after a brief illness, at age 58. He holds the traditional title of Kakaki Nupe, meaning the mouthpiece of the Nupe tribe in Niger State, North-Central Nigeria
In a release by Mr. Abraham Nda-Isaiah, the former managing Director of LEADERSHIP Group and younger brother of the deceased newspaper publisher who is now the new family head, he said dignitaries are expected to participate in the burial activities which would commence by 12noon on Wednesday, December 23, with virtual tributes.
Among such dignitaries to partake in the virtual tributes include former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida and General Abdulsalami Abubakar, a former Military Head of State. Others are, the Niger State Chairman of Traditional Rulers Council and the Etsu Nupe, Dr. Yahaya Abubakar.
The Niger State, the home state of late Sam Nda-Isaiah, and the Presidency are likely to send powerful delegations to the burial event, indication shows on Sunday.
The Service of Songs will hold on Sunday, December 27, 2020, at the International Conference Centre (ICC) Abuja at 3 pm, said the statement, adding that “He will be interred on Monday, December 28, 2020, at the Gudu Cemetery, Abuja at 10 am, in what would be an invitation-only ceremony,” Abraham said.
Sam Nda-Isaiah was a pharmacist, entrepreneur, media mogul, and an astute politician. His passing has drawn an outpouring of grief across the country and abroad. A previous statement from the Nda-Isaiah family announcing Sam's death penultimate Friday had said he “was a family man, serial entrepreneur, visioner, passionate politician, and above all, a man of faith.”
Though he trained as a pharmacist, “Sam”, as he was fondly called, adopted journalism as his profession and earned a mark for himself, having founded the LEADERSHIP Newspaper titles, National Economy and AYAU, the first daily Hausa newspaper.
He was also a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a political platform he contested for the presidential ticket in 2014. The media mogul is survived by his aged mother, wife, children and siblings. NNL.
