Sam Nda-Isaiah: Adieu, My Mentor
December 15, 2020
The first time I read his article in the late 1990’s on Daily Trust, I instantly became a fan. What attracted me to him was his flair and forthrightness. Sam never minced his words as he clearly conveyed to his reader that he was a true nationalist, a Northerner and a progressive.
A group of mid-career journalists, led by Malam Kabiru Yusuf, gathered and formed the Daily Trust at a time when the North has virtually no voice in the media circle in Nigeria of that time. Sam was a critical member of those luminaries that gave Northern Nigeria a voice, especially with the political permutations, alignments and re-alignment for the unavoidable return to democracy, after the military clearly understood the writing on the wall as the popular agitations and cries for democratic governance swept the globe.
Single-handedly, in 2004 he created the Leadership newspaper that went on to become a household name in the media not only in the North but also in the country.
Our generation has lost an icon, a rare gem because of all the detribalised Nigerians I know of his generation, none stood shoulder to shoulder with him. Religion and ethnicity seemed to be non-existent in Sam’s vocabulary. He stood for what was right and defended it. He envisioned a progressive North where we were all equal as one people, not along ethno-religious divides.
Sam has done to journalism in the North what no single Northerner has done. He was the only one that created and sustained a Hausa daily newspaper, giving young enterprising journalists a platform. And in his effort to promote creative writing published book covers for free in his newspaper. He established the Leadership Excellence Awards that stood out as the only award that is truly guided by excellence in the country. The motto of Leadership newspaper, “For God and Country”, is truly lived to the fullest by Sam Nda-Isaiah.
Sam Nda-Isaiah is truly my mentor considering he inspired me to aspire to become a columnist through his columns (The Last Word) and the fact that we shared one stumbling block in common. He was a trained pharmacist that became one of the leading columnists of his time, if not of all time. Having studied Language and Religion in the university, I got inspired by Sam who proved and showed the way for me that I could be what I want to be regardless of my area of studies. For years I nursed my ambition as I continued to watch Sam and few of his likes as they captivated their readers. It easily came to mind when reminiscing about that time, of people like Sunusi Lamido Sunusi, Mahmud Jega and Dr. Aliyu Tilde for their inspirational role as great writers.
In my one year sojourn in Saudi Arabia in 2003 where I went in an effort to publish my book after receiving a recommendation letter from Muslim World League office in Abuja, it gave me my first opportunity to write for a newspaper. The editor of Saudi Gazette advised me to cull articles from my manuscript for publication. Upon my return to Nigeria in 2004, I found that there was a new private radio station in Kano, Freedom Radio, making waves in the ancient city. I immediately translated my articles into Hausa and approached the station for a possible programme. After meeting two of our fallen heroes in the media circle, the two Umars (Umar Dutse Mohammed and Umar Sa’id Tudunwada), my proposal was accepted and I was cleared to start hosting my science and religion programme coined “Tsokaci” by Umar Dutse himself. The programme was well received by the audience and it ran for two years until when in one of my programmes I showed clearly the fallacy of the late Jaafar Mahmud Adam on the issue of eclipse. That created a friction and I left.
When Nasiru Gwangwazo was the Editor of the Leadership Hausa he invited me to send for a proposal for a weekly column in the paper, patterned along my radio programme. I was given a column titled titled “Ayoyin Kimiyya” (i.e. Scientific Verses). The column also became a hit with readers to the extent that one day I received a call from a nomadic Fulani man who told me he was calling from along the Nigeria-Cameroon border. I had a moving conversion with him, which almost led me to tears and made me realise the power of the pen. He told me that as we spoke he was holding on to a copy of Leadership Hausa that he was savouring for months after reading my article on how the Qur’an explained the rainfall phenomena, something he confessed that astonished him since childhood, but my article had explained to him succinctly the process and he believed more in the power of God. That call was a defining moment in my career as a writer and it made me to resolve to research more and write more knowing that somewhere, somehow you are influencing an unlikely subject just as Sam had done to me.
One day I received another call from someone that introduced herself as Aisha Yola from Leadership. She said she was fascinated with my Hausa column and had spoke with Sam Nda-Isaiah to give me a page in the Leadership Weekend. I jumped at the opportunity and started.
Two years later, in early 2008, I received the prestigious bursary award from Cambridge University for journalists writing at the intersection of science and religion. My English column on science and religion singularly brought this honour for me from one of the leading universities in the world. Leadership published a tribute article for the honour conferred on me and Sam invited me to his office. All these years I had never met him in person but when I reached his office he greeted me with that calm mien and called my name with such familiarity as if we had known each other all our lives. That same year, Aisha Yola won the prestigious Chevening scholarship and went to Birmingham while I was in Cambridge.
In 2010, my paper, “The Bible, Qur’an and Darwinism”, was accepted for presentation at the National conference for African American Studies in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. In the process of my visa application I was asked to bring a cover letter from my employer. Being a freelance journalist I turned to Sam Nda-Isaiah and briefed him about my conundrum. He immediately summoned his brother Abraham and told him to go and prepare a cover letter for me to the embassy, which I got the same day.
The death of Sam Nda-Isiah was broken to me early in the morning and one of his friends, Dr Bello Salihu, who happened to be living and working in UK, also called me soon after I received the news. I was doubly shocked that early morning as Dr. Bello’s voice was cracky on the brink of tears. I never knew Dr Bello was a personal friend of Sam Nda-Isiah until that morning. Having lived in the UK for the last three decades working in the oil and gas sector he recently sent me an article he published by Leadership in 2015 calling on this government to diversify from petrol to gas usage in our automobiles (something the government is recently talking about). When he heard about the death, he called to condole with me knowing I was a columnist with the paper. Dr. Bello took several minutes explaining to me his close relationship with Sam, how much he cherished him and the great loss he felt. My soothing words were no match for his agonies and it truly expounded to me the greatness of Sam Nda-Isaiah not only in his life but in death.
Adieu, my mentor! You have passed through the sands of time as a grain for just 58 years, even though you are now dead, you will continue to live in our minds through your legacies, which I have no doubt immortalise you as that single grain of sand that made its mark in our lives, region and country and you will be remembered as long as humans walk this side of our earth. I know we cannot replace you, but we will do our utmost and strive hard to walk in your steps.
