Leadership Newspaper Publisher, Sam Nda-Isaiah, Dies at 58

 

The Publisher of Leadership Newspapers, Sam Nda Isaiah, has been reported dead. 

The trained pharmacist reportedly died  at 11.00 p.m on Friday after a very brief illness. 

He 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.”

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.

Born in 1962 in Minna, Niger State, Nda-Isaiah, who held the traditional title of Kakaki Nupe, studied Pharmacy at Obafemi Awolowo University.

He wrote the famous Monday Backpage column in Daily Trust before establishing Leadership Newspaper Group in 2001, and shifted it to his medium.

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 agrd 58.

He was also a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, who sought the party's presidential ticket of the party in 283??

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.

A close ally of President Muhammadu Buhari, in 2003, he headed his 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.