12th December, 2020
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed shock and sadness at the death of Publisher of Leadership Newspapers, Sam Nda-Isaiah.
He described him as “a friend and ally.”
The President in a statement issued by his media adviser, Femi Adesina, condoled with the media fraternity, the Nda-Isaiah family, friends and associates of the deceased.
Buhari said “the country has lost a man of conviction, a resolute and dogged believer in a better Nigeria.”
“He will be sorely missed. This is a massive fish gone out of the media ocean,” President Buhari further said of the pharmacist, renowned columnist, and one time presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Sam Ndah Isaiah died on Friday at the age of 58.
He died on Friday after a brief illness, according to multiple sources, who attributed the cause of death to COVID-19.
The pharmacist turned newspaperman attended a meeting of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria in Lagos early this week.
His journalism interest began when he became a columnist with The Daily Trust.
He was also a committee member in the Kano State Government panel to revive The Triumph, a Kano governmet owned newspaper.
In 2003, he headed Mohammadu Buhari’s presidential campaign publicity.