Nigeria woke on Saturday, August 9, 2025, to the solemn news that Chief Audu Ogbeh had passed away peacefully at the age of 78.
Until his demise, he was a respected politician, playwright, and one of the nation’s most enduring voices in agriculture—
His family, in a brief statement, expressed gratitude for “a life well lived in service, integrity, and purpose.”
Born on July 28, 1947, in Otukpo, Benue State, Ogbeh’s path was one of rare versatility. He began in the lecture halls of Ahmadu Bello University and Murtala College, teaching humanities before stepping into the rough-and-tumble arena of politics. His education at King’s College, Lagos, and later the University of Toulouse, France, had armed him with the intellect and conviction to navigate Nigeria’s most critical political seasons.
From the Benue State House of Assembly, where he served as deputy speaker in 1979, to his tenure as Federal Minister of Communications and Steel Development during the Second Republic, Ogbeh was never afraid of the national spotlight. In 2001, he became National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a role he held until 2005 when his principled resignation during the storm of President Obasanjo’s third-term controversy made headlines.
His service reached another milestone in 2015, when President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Here, Ogbeh championed policies that sought to revive Nigeria’s farmlands, boost local food production, and empower rural communities.
But beyond politics and policy, Ogbeh was a man of letters—a playwright whose works, including Epitaph of Simon Kisulu, reflected Nigeria’s struggles and spirit.
Tributes have poured in from across the political spectrum. Senator Orji Uzor Kalu hailed him as a man of “uncommon wisdom, humility, and integrity,” while citizens remembered him as a steady, principled figure in often-turbulent times. His family has requested privacy as they mourn, but their words capture the national mood: “We are comforted by the many lives he touched and the example he set.”
Chief Audu Ogbeh leaves behind not just a record of offices held, but a legacy of ideas, reforms, and writings that will continue to shape Nigeria’s political, cultural, and agricultural future.
