Malam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, has described Malam Wada Maida, late Chairman of the Board of Directors of the News Agency of Nigeria, as a man of vision and integrity.
Shehu spoke to NAN on Thursday in Abuja on the sidelines of the renaming of the agency’s headquarters after Maida, who died on August 17, 2020.
The Federal Government had recently approved the renaming of NAN headquarters, located at the Abuja Central Business District, after Maida, who was at a time the agency’s Managing Director.
Among other positions held in NAN by the late Maida were Political Editor, Western Europe Correspondent and Editor-in-Chief.
Shehu said the Maida was a mentor, a facilitator and a caring God father to him, adding that he was also a man of great patience.
He said: “I think that those who are coming behind them are too much in a hurry.
“So if you ask me what is the important thing they should learn from him, it is to be patient in everything, in our lives, good things will come when you wait.
“In terms of professional conduct, be patient, don’t rush the story, get all your facts and be thorough and present it as factually as can possibly be done.”
According to Shehu, this were the things the late Maida stood for.
He added that at a personal level, Maida brought him close to NAN at the National Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos, where the agency started, long before its Abuja headquarters was built.
He said: “I spent quality time in this building with him, at his home and in his business place.
“I have known NAN as a user of their product.
“I had edited newspapers, I had worked in a television station before.
“And I know that the newspaper will never go to bed until the bulletin from NAN had come because NAN had everything.
“In fact with NAN, you don’t have to have a reporter in every state of the country because NAN brought the news and the pictures to you in the newsroom.”
Maida, also known as Muntari or Mukhtar by close family members and some friends, was born into the family of Alhaji Abdullahi Maida and Hajiya Binta Maida of Unguwar Alkali in Katsina State on March 5, 1950.
He attended the London School of Journalism, Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Aberdeen College of Technology and University of Salford, Manchester for his studies in journalism.
The event was attended by Governor of Katsina State, Director-General and Chief Executive officers of various media organisations and state government representatives, among others.
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