The Publisher of Leadership newspaper , Sam Nda – Isaiah , is dead .
Multiple sources from his family and the newspaper organisation confirmed that he died on Friday “after a very brief illness .”
“Yes , it is true. I was just told now, ” a family member told one of our correspondents on the telephone on Friday evening .
When asked if he had been sick , the source simply said , “Yes , but very briefly .”
The late publisher was said to be at his duty post in Abuja on Thursday during the inaugural meeting of National Economy ’ s Board of Economists at the corporate head office of the media organisation .
A senior management staff of his company was said to have broken the sad news of his death on the company’s staff WhatsApp , saying “Today is a sad day for Leadership .”
An editor with the Leadership , who spoke with one of our correspondents , said Nda – Isaiah did not show any sign of sickness when he appeared at the office on Thursday .
“He did not show any sign of sickness. Definitely , it was not coronavirus that killed him . Maybe it was cardiac arrest . It is indeed a sad day for us .”
He said the family and the company would issue a statement to announce the death of the former pharmacist.
On his Facebook page , Nda – Isaiah described himself as a leading pro -good governance advocate and a consistent voice on contemporary and domestic policy issues .
He also described himself as “one of the most respected men in the Nigerian media .”
He was chairman of the Leadership Group and Editor – in- Chief of Leadership newspapers , a daily newspaper organisation that publishes Leadership , Leadership Weekend , Leadership Sunday, Leadership Confidential , Leadership Edge and Leadership Hausa .
Nda – Isaiah was a member of the Vienna -based International Press Institute; a member of the World Association of Newspapers , Paris , France ; and a member of the Institute of Directors .
He was a member of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria ; Chairman , Oakhouse Forte Limited ; Chairman , Banana Republic ; Chairman , Clayfields and Harrow ; Director , Empire Securities Limited ; Director , Societa Generale Fondazini ; Director , Maitama Amusement Park Plc ; Member governing council of Kaduna International School; Chairman , Robertsham Hotel and Group Ten Ltd , Johannesburg , South Africa .
The deceased was aged 58 .
Born on May 1 , 1962, Nda -Isaiah died at 58 .
A trained pharmacist from the Obafemi Awolowo University , Ile -Ife , Nda – Isaiah ventured into politics and newspaper publishing.
He was also a newspaper columnist.
A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress , he was one of the party’ s presidential aspirants for the 2015 election . He alongside former Vice- President Atiku Abubakar; former Governor Rochas Okorocha and former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso among others lost the APC presidential ticket to Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd .) , who later won the election by defeating the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Goodluck Jonathan , in the 2015 election .
As of the time of filing this report , the deceased ’s family and the Leadership newspaper had yet to formally announce his death.
According to online encyclopedia , Nda – Isaiah was born in Minna, Nigeria . He attended UNA Elementary School before switching to Christ Church School, Kaduna in 1968 . He later studied at the Federal Government College , Kaduna, from 1974 to 1979 . After graduating , he was admitted to the Obafemi Awolowo University , Ile – Ife , Osun State where he studied Pharmacy .
He also enrolled in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore .
Nda – Isaiah briefly worked as a pharmacist at the Kano Specialist Hospital before moving to the General Hospital , Minna . He worked at Pfizer Products Limited from 1985 to 1989.
In 2003 , he headed Muhammadu Buhari ’s presidential campaign publicity .
He was a member of the Asian think -tank , the Global Institute for Tomorrow in Hong Kong. In 2019 , he was appointed board member of the Baze University .
PUNCH.