I grew up knowing Chief Audu Ogbeh as a friend and political associate of my father’s. Chief Audu Ogbeh, Senator Godwin Okpe, and my late dad, Chief Adejo Ogiri, were some of the young politicians of Idoma ethnicity in the then National Party of Nigeria (NPN) era of 1979 – 1983. However, it wasn’t until 2015 that I built my own personal relationship with him.
Thank you for reading this post; don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel here!
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (as he was then) had just defeated President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in the 2015 presidential elections and had set up a transition committee with Chief Audu Ogbeh and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as members. Chief Audu Ogbeh, in one of his discussions with Asiwaju, had complained of power supply as a major challenge for his EFUGO Farms here in Abuja.
I occasionally disagreed with him on some policy areas but he liked that we could engage.
Asiwaju then called his nephew Wale Tinubu who was GCEO of Oando PLC (parent company of Oando Gas & Power) to sort Chief Ogbeh out with our distributed gas to power solutions. Wale Tinubu in turn called the MD of the Oando Gas & Power subsidiary who was my boss at the time. My boss then called me to go meet this ‘big’ politician, who turned out to be Chief Audu Ogbeh.
Chief Ogbeh was shocked to see that it was his late friend’s son that Oando had sent to him. We met at his Asokoro house, and that became the beginning of a relationship.
He was an intellectual, highly cerebral, and always full of ideas and bounced some of the ideas off me. I recall the castor seed oil extraction plant, the cashew nut processing ideas, etc.. We sometimes delved into politics and national issues, especially on the economy, such as devaluation of currency, etc. I occasionally disagreed with him on some policy areas but he liked that we could engage.
He once offered to bring me into government as he stated that our generation needed to be groomed to take over from them. This didn’t materialise and I never pushed while he was a Minister under the Buhari administration.
I kept in touch occasionally, especially at family events, and I paid a condolence visit last year when his daughter passed. It was such a traumatic period for the entire family.
I didn’t see him again until a few weeks ago at Barr Paul Harris Ogbole (SAN)’s 60th birthday party. He seemed to have aged significantly in the last one year I had not seen him but was still his sharp witty self.
“Oyi! Oyi, where have you been?” he asked.
We exchanged pleasantries, and he asked after my mum and siblings. This was to be that last time I’d see him.
Just two days ago, I learnt he was working on his memoirs. Unfortunately, he didn’t live to complete it, which would have been such an interesting read.
Adieu Chief Audu Ogbeh. You were indeed an icon and have played your part in the course of building our nation. May the Almighty God receive your soul and comfort the family left behind.
Ogagbano Adejo-Ogiri is the Executive Secretary of the Association of Local Distributors of Gas (ALDG).
Follow the AkweyaTV channel on WhatsApp: http://bit.ly/3I7mQVx
Or scan the QR code:
