- * Narrates How The Deceased Elderstatesman, Others Saved Nigeria During 1966 Crisis
By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has disclosed how the late former Permanent Secretary, Alhaji. Ahmed Joda and other Super Permanent Secretaries then saved the unity of Nigeria shortly after the country's upheaval in 1966.
Joda, the Chancellor of the Bells University Otta and an about 60-year-old friend of the former President died on Friday, aged 91.
Obasanjo while reacting to the death through his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, described Joda as not just a Nigerian, but, a true and great Nigerian, committed to unity, development and progress of the country.
"Oh! What a heartbreaking news, that my friend for well over 60 years has passed to the great beyond. If every Nigerian have the attributes of Joda, Nigeria will have been better than what it is now.
"Ahmed Joda by his feature did not need to tell young 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. They are not many like him, and that was what strengthens our relationship since 1959," Obasanjo was quoted having said.
He said that they met when he was a Second Lieutenant in the Nigeria Army and Joda was a Deputy Chief Information Officer in the Federal Civil service.
Obasanjo, who rolled out the drums to celebrate Joda's 90th birthday last year in Abeokuta, recalled that the effort of him and his other Super Permanent Secretaries as they were fondly called in the then civil service saved Nigeria in 1966.
According to the former President, "I know that if not for people like Joda and other Senior Permanent Secretaries as they were called Super Permanent Secretary as at that time, after the second upheaval of 1966, after the first upheaval we would have had Nigeria broken into pieces. Because Araba was bent on having Nigeria divided.
"But, it was Ahmed Joda and other Super Permanent Secretaries (senior civil servants) like Philip Asiodu, Liman Ciroma, Alison Ayida who prevailed not to have Nigeria broken up.
"Well, Dear Ahmed, you have served your family, your community. You have served your country and indeed humanity, you have done your best, including working for the transition between the Buhari administration and Jonathan administration.
"You have done your best working with me on the progress and programme of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library. You have done your best on becoming the Chancellor of Bells University. We love you, but God loves you best. Rest permanently in the bossom of Allah," Obasanjo said.
Alhaji Ahmed Joda, a former super federal Permanent Secretary who passed on Friday, August 13, 2021, died after a brief illness at the Federal Medical Centre, Yola, Adamawa state.
His Personal Secretary, Alhaji Mohammed Baba, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) about the death of Joda.
He was born in Yola in 1930 and attended Yola Elementary School and Yola Middle School before proceeding to Barewa College from 1945 to 1948.
In the 1950s, he attended Pitman College, London, and gained practical experience in journalism while staying in Britain.
After completing his secondary education in 1948, Joda was admitted to Moor Plantation, Ibadan. He worked briefly at an agricultural centre in Yola before entering the field of journalism at Gaskiya Corporation, Zaria.
He later worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission serving as the editor of NBC Kaduna. He then joined the Northern Nigeria civil service as Chief Information Officer and later permanent secretary in the regional Ministry of Information.
In 1967, he became a federal permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information and subsequently moved to Lagos.
“It is worthy to note that he was the chairman of the 18-member transition committee, nominated by General Muhammadu Buhari to receive the handover notes from the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration in 2015. Ahmed Joda is an administrator, journalist and politician.
“Also worthy of note is the fact that he was the chairman of the transition committee in 1979 when General Obasanjo handed over to president Shagari,” the source said.
Joda had been buried in Yola according to the Islamic rites. Sheikh Tijjani Tahir, the Deputy Chief Imam of Yola town Central Mosque, led the funeral prayers. The burial was attended by the top Adamawa Government led by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Bashir Ahmed, representatives of Adamawa Emirate Council and Politicians, among others.
Joda is survived by four children, comprising two males and two females, including Hajiya Asmau Joda, a female activist. NNL.
