WADA MAIDA: NPAN lost an intellectual and a gentle giant

Prominent Nigerians have continued to pay tribute to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the News Agency of Nigeria, Wada Maida, who died on Monday, August 17.

As gathered by Daily Times, Mr Maida, 70, was buried according to Islamic rites at Gudu Cemetery in Apo District of Abuja on Tuesday.

The funeral prayer was led by Imam Rabiu Suleiman amidst tears by his family members, friends, associates and Muslim Ummah.

Mallam Wada Maida,  who until his death,  was the Chairman,  Board of Directors of People’s Media,  publishers of the People’s Daily Newspapers.

Nduka Obaigbena, president of NPAN described Wada as “a consummate journalist and dedicated canvasser for a free press , was one of the  pillars of our esteemed Association, the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN)”

“He was an intellectual and a gentle giant. His passage is more shocking,  coming barely a month after the death of the Life Patron of the Association,  Mal Ismaila Isa. His life was a testament to public good and service, at both the local and international levels”. 

Until his death,  Wada chaired the Board of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) , and served as a member of the Executive Board of of the International Press Institute (IPI) , deploying his wealth of experience.

“At the NPAN,  he was one of the intellectuals in the engine room of the Association. Mal. Wada, who was also a former President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), was a defender of free press and democracy.  The nation has lost an icon and the Nigerian and international Press , a strong pillar. We mourn”, Nduka Obaigbena further expressed.

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