What Ex-PDP Nat’l Chairman said in last interview before his death

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Prior to his passing last Saturday, former Agriculture Minister Chief Audu Ogbeh had open discussions on matters of national importance.

Former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairman Chief Ogbeh passed away at the age of 78.

Chief Ogbeh, who described himself as a depressed guy who “tried” to find happiness, voiced concerns about the future of the nation in a Daily Trust interview that was released just before his family made the news of his passing.

“Believe me, I am a sad person. I tried to find happiness, but I am scared of the future. I may not be here [alive], I am way over 70, heading to 80, but I don’t like what I smell. It is very depressing,” he said.

Growing poverty, disregard for agriculture, and the breakdown of local government management are concerning indicators for the nation, the former minister cautioned.

“Well, I have one wife, five children and eight grandchildren. But I am a rather sad person because I can see dangers ahead,” he said.

“I don’t see why we are hoping that the younger generation would wake up one day and start dancing for joy.

“Each one of those young men is sending money home to his mother, a cousin or sister who believes that they are in Abuja, and therefore, have money.

“But they just don’t have money. And their number is increasing — they are leaving the villages for the cities.

“They arrive in the cities and the conditions are absolutely impossible. And they can’t go back to the village unless there are things that will actually call them back home”, he added.

In response to calls for a new national constitution, Chief Ogbeh stated that the country needs competent administration.

The politician described his escape from a 1998 assassination attempt as nothing less than a miracle.

“Oh yes, they broke down the door and came in. They had finished their bullets firing all over the place. They shot my guards. They shot me, left me in a pool of blood and went away. This eye nearly fell out.

“My domestic staff who were outside heard them chanting, ‘We don kill am’. They came back at 6am and took me to hospital. My head was very large and I was totally unconscious.

“Somehow, (they) managed me and I recovered. I had to leave the place and come to Abuja here, where Shehu Malami of Sokoto gave me a flat to stay as long as I could. I had no house”, he said.

After entering politics in 1979, Chief Ogbeh held the position of deputy speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly.

From 2001 to 2005, he was the National Chairman of the PDP. From 2015 until 2019, he was the Minister of Agriculture.

During the Shehu Shagari administration, Chief Ogbeh served as the federal minister of communications from 1982 to 1983.

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