.

By Ibrahim Wuyo, Kaduna

The Arewa Consultative Forum(ACF) has said that the late Ahmed Joda was a calm and honest, soft-spoken but firm public servant.

“In his death, Nigeria has lost a great civil servant and patriot,” the Forum said.

Emmanuel Yawe, National Publicity Secretary Arewa Consultative Forum, said in a statement that ACF was thrown into deep mourning over the death of Alhaji Ahmed Joda.

“Ahmed Joda was until his death the pillar on which the Northern Region and indeed Nigeria relied in times of turbulence. After his studies both in Nigeria and abroad, he started a public service career which took him across many fields including journalism, information, administration etc.”

“In 1967, he was appointed a Federal Permanent Secretary from the Northern Regional service. He was one of the permanent secretaries who gave patriotic advice leading to the survival of Nigeria during the national crisis that led to the civil war. Because of the influence, they had on General Yakubu Gowon, the Head of State at the time, he and others were nicknamed “Super Permanent Secretaries”.

“As an experienced technocrat and elder statesman, he was often called upon to bail and in fact did nail Nigeria out of many tight corners. He did so when General Obasanjo was to hand over power to Alhaji Shehu Shagari who won the Presidential elections in 1979. He was appointed to head the transition committee of the time. In 2015, when President Goodluck Jonathan lost elections to Muhammadu Buhari he was again called upon to head another transition committee that led to the peaceful transition from Jonathan to Buhari.”

“The late Ahmed Joda was a calm and honest, soft-spoken but firm public servant.
In his death, Nigeria has lost a great civil servant and patriot. We condole with his immediate family, Adamawa state and the Federal Government over this great loss and pray the Almighty God will give him peaceful rest, forgive his mistakes and console the loved ones he left behind,” the Forum said.

Vanguard News Nigeria