TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari says Ismaila Isa Funtua, his late associate, was of great assistance to his government.

In a letter to Funtua’s family, Buhari described his death as a “major national loss.”

Funtua, who was a former president of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), died two weeks ago.

Like the president, Funutua hailed from Katsina state.

In the letter which he personally signed, Buhari told Funtua’s family that his death was not theirs alone, but that of the entire country.

“Malam Ismaila was of great assistance to me and my administration,” he said in the letter written in Hausa.

“He helped in many ways to strengthen the government and the country before his ultimate demise.”

The president further eulogised Funtua for his “kindness, generosity and support for public causes, big and the not so big” while he was alive.

Funtua was the founding managing director of Democrat Newspaper, life patron of NPAN and life executive member of the board of the International Press Institute (IPI).