Audu Ogbeh, Ex-Agric Minister Who Said ‘Nigerians Importing Pizza From London’, Dies at 78

Audu Innocent Ogbeh, who lamented six years ago that some Nigerians were importing pizza from London and called the country ‘a nation of importers, is dead.

In March 2019, the then-minister of agriculture and rural development described as “very annoying” the country’s overreliance on imports when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Agriculture in Abuja to defend the ministry’s budget.

“Do you know, sir, that there are Nigerians who use their cellphones to import pizza from London; they buy in London and bring it on British Airways in the morning to pick up at the airport. It is a very annoying situation and we have to move a lot faster in cutting down some of these things,” he told the lawmakers.

“Toothpick every year costs us $18 million; tomato paste costs us $400 million. Meanwhile, a basket of tomatoes is less than N2,000,” he said. “The farmers are losing money because the processors do not have enough funds to set up factories.”

The son of a farmer died on Saturday at the age of 78.

The Ogbeh family said in a statement that the elder statesman “departed peacefully, leaving behind a legacy of integrity, service, and dedication to our nation and community.”

“We are comforted by the many lives he touched and the example he set,” it added.

Ogbeh was born in Otukpo on July 28, 1947 to the family of late Pa Ogbeh Ejembi and Madam Egbi Ogbeh (nee Odinya), both of Efugo-Otukpa in the present-day Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State.

His late father was a renowned farmer, community leader and disciplinarian while his mother was a commodities trader who travelled through all major markets of the central and south-eastern states of Nigeria in the course of her business.

In the following year, he gained admission at the elite Kings College in Lagos, continuing his studies for the Higher School Certificate. He obtained the HSC at the end of 1968 and proceeded the following year to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Between 1969 and 1972, Ogbeh studied for his undergraduate certificate, which he obtained at the end of his time there. Armed with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French, he proceeded in 1973 to the University of Toulouse in France. He graduated in 1974 with a Masters of Letters degree in French literature.

Ogbeh’s career began immediately after his first degree. He was employed as a teaching assistant by the Institute of Education, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he oversaw the teaching of French language in the northern states. In 1977, after his Master’s degree, he was appointed as the Head of Department of Languages, Arts and Social Sciences at the Murtala College of Arts, Science and Technology up until 1979.

In 1979, he contested for and won the elections to the Benue State House of Assembly. As a member of the House, he was elected Deputy Speaker, a position he held until February 1982.

In 1982, he was appointed as Federal Minister of Communications by President Shehu Shagari of the 2nd Republic.

At the end of the general elections of 1983, he was reappointed as a minister, with a new portfolio of steel development. He served here until the coup d’etat on December 31, 1983.

He returned to full-time farming in December 1984 up until September 1998. During the period, he set up a number of personal projects including a medium-scale rice mill, 14,000 tree cashew plantation, and a poultry farm. He also consulted for several state governments and established a number of notable projects, including a large-scale pineapple project for Cross River State and two rice mills – for the Family Economic Advancement Program in Abuja and for General J.T. Useni in Langtang, Plateau State.

While in full-time agriculture, he answered the call to serve and was appointed to the 19-member National Constitutional Conference Commission in 1993. Upon completing the assignment, he was again named a member of the National Reconciliation Committee, which had the difficult task of promoting national understanding in the very tense atmosphere, following the June 12th saga of 1993.

In 1998, he directed the presidential campaign of Alex Ekwueme, under the PDP and became a full-time member of the party; which won the elections in 1999. On November 11, 2001, he was elected national chairman of the PDP and served in the office before resigning in 2006. Shortly after, he served as chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria, which then merged into the APC, where he continued his service. On November 11, 2015, he was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.