Today, Sunday December 11, 2022, is exactly two years since the demise of the great thinker, father, mentor, disciplinarian, realist and progressive-minded Founder of LEADERSHIP, Sam Nda-Isaiah.
It was a day the multi-talented publisher bowed out of this world, stirring up pain, sorrow and anxiety. Sam Nda-Isaiah, the proud son of an illustrious first generation journalist, was a household name not just within the nation’s media industry but also within the corridors of power.
He took deep interest in the politics of the country and no issue came up without his attentive analysis. Hardly any significant issue escaped his pen and engaging thoughts.
He started with his popular column, “Last Word”, with Daily Trust newspaper. This attracted wide readership, with most readers waiting for every Monday to read. Even those who could not afford to buy Daily Trust on Mondays, especially members of the free readers association of Nigeria, of which I was a member, would rush to make friends with vendors just to be allowed to read the back page.
He later stopped writing for Daily Trust to start Leadership Confidential, a restricted well-informed journal which he was chief marketer before finally establishing LEADERSHIP.
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The late Sam, as he was fondly called, believed in the power of possibilities and the fact that with sheer determination, one can achieve anything he sets out to achieve. He worked every day as if it was his last. He was never tired of insisting that things should be done right.
He appreciated people and rewarded hard work. He rarely praised his staff in their presence in order not to make them feel they have arrived. He criticised objectively, and never gave in to an argument. He rarely took ‘no’ for an answer. Because he read a lot of books, both old and new, he did what is called grafting of old and new ideas to obtain better ones.
Even though he was nearly 60 years when he died, he was current and was always abreast of global trends.
A man of big ideas, he moved round the country and captivated politicians during his campaign to actualise his aspiration for the presidency in 2015. If the APC had given the late Sam Nda-Isaiah its ticket to become the president of Nigeria, a lot more would have been achieved because he was full of practical ideas which he deployed very well to expand and sustain all his businesses, including the LEADERSHIP. That’s why even after his demise the structures put in place are producing good and efficient results.
Before resuming my weekly column with LEADERSHIP Newspaper in 2020, I had planned to meet with him but our meeting could not hold before his painful exit.
The news of his death on the night of Friday 11th December, 2020 was a big blow, not just to his immediate and the LEADERSHIP families, but to the entire media community.
Though he was not a trained media professional, the late Sam set high standards and kept most professionals on their toes within the industry, both locally and internationally. His father’s journalistic skills must have influenced him greatly and shaped his passion towards the media.
He took the LEADERSHIP titles to heights never imagined. To the admiration of many, he made sure the newspaper discharged very well its traditional responsibilities of public enlightenment, education, sensitization, information, entertainment, etc. A highly detribalised Nigerian, he didn’t suffer fools gladly.
My coming in contact with the late Sam in 2006 changed my approach to life and work. He was tough, firm, unyielding and very confrontational, especially when he believed that his position was right. You didn’t have to bow to him just to impress him when you believed in your own ideas. He liked those who argue to the end and come up with productive facts that overwhelmed his reasoning. He did not play to the gallery and would not condone such from anyone.
He would give you a story line to work on and bring it to him directly or through any of the editors. You dared not tell him about any encumbrance, hindrance or hitches that you may or must have encountered in the process of carrying out the assignment. Of course he knew you must encounter them, but would insist you do your very best. That created a very strong will power in us to do things and even face life’s challenges. This dogged spirit he instilled in us helped us break new grounds even outside the company.
When together with my wife I went to the Banana Republic to tell him of my ambition to contest for the Plateau State House of Assembly in October 2010, he said I should go for the House of Representatives instead of the state assembly. His argument was that having worked in LEADERSHIP as Political Editor and Group Politics Editor, Group News Editor and then Associate Editor, State House, my knowledge about political developments in the country was beyond the local level, and therefore I needed to be at the National Assembly.
After convincing him that we operate a zoning system for all elective positions and I needed to start with the State Assembly which was zoned to my ward, he agreed and together with his wife, blessed my ambition and wished us well. I got elected into the State House of Assembly in 2011-2015. When I was elected into the Federal House of Representatives in 2015-2019, he was so very happy that his wish and prayers for me were answered.
For those of us who worked under this man at different times, we are very rich in content and principles of what life expects of us and what we can give to life and society.
Though many knew him as the tough Chairman of LEADERSHIP, the late Sam was a caring husband, father, instructor, politician, analyst/columnist, mentor, observer and a patriotic citizen.
I urge us all to keep praying for the family of our late Leader, his wife and children and the LEADERSHIP family, and make ourselves available for any role that you can play to sustain this great company.
Let me use this opportunity to sincerely appreciate our mother, Mrs. Zainab Nda-Isaiah who now wears the big shoes of her late husband as chairman of the company. To the surprise of many, she has done excellently in managing the company and continuing with some of the valuable traits of her late husband. May the good Lord continue to comfort and give her the needed strength and empowerment to carry on with life.
May the good and kind, hardworking and entrepreneurial, adventurous and versatile soul of our late leader and mentor, Sam Nda-Isaiah rest well and in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ.
– Golu, a former staff of LEADERSHIP Newspapers, represented Pankshin-Kanam-Kanke federal constituency of Plateau State at the 8th National Assembly.
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