NGE deputy president, Umar Tudunwada, dies in road accident
By Shile GIWA
Deputy president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Umar Tudunwada, is dead.
The former managing director of Radio Kano and general manager of Freedom Radio died in an accident on Sunday on the Kano-Kaduna road while returning from a meeting of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) in Abuja.
Provost of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Gbemiga Ogunleye, confirmed the death in a Facebook post.
“His wife, Aisha who is a former Deputy President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, daughter and driver are still in the hospital.
“Please join me in praying for their speedy recovery,” Mr Ogunleye wrote.
Tudunwada worked for various national and international media organisations in the course of his career.
Some of the organisations he worked for are CTV Kano, Voice of America (VOA), Radio Deutsche Welle, Freedom Radio and Radio Kano.
He had also experienced the print media as he was a one-time editor of the Concern Magazine in Kano.
Tudunwada also served as the secretary of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and as the special assistant and director of press to two governors in the state.
He was elected NGE deputy president unopposed at the guild’s biennial convention in Lagos in May.
Ogunleye was secretary of the electoral committee.
Turbanned as the Danmasanin Tudun Wada, his hometown, the deceased left behind 21 children and four wives amongst whom is the former deputy president of the Nigeria Guild of Editors (North), Hajiya Aishatu Sule.
He has since been buried in accordance with Islamic rites at Tarauni cemetery in Kano metropolis.
