Ogbeh was a selfless chief – Jime

The immediate past Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Emmanuel Jime, has described the late Chief Audu Ogbeh as a selfless leader who inspired many while in public service.

Jime said Ogbeh was the greatest Benue ambassador to the country.

DAILY POST reports that the former National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, died on Saturday at the age of 78.

Jime said he received the news of Ogbeh’s death with “rude shock.”

He described the late former lecturer at Murtala College of Arts, Science and Technology as the embodiment of a public-spirited individual who was a great inspiration to many in the country.

“I just received with rude shock the announcement of the passing of one of Benue’s greatest ambassadors to the Nigerian nation, Chief Innocent Audu Ogbeh.

“A very brilliant and visionary leader. For me, he remains a great inspiration that public service is indeed a place where you discharge responsibilities of serving the nation with distinction.

“We all mourn; this nation has lost a great patriot, and indeed, the comfort, if there is any in the passing of any man, is in the legacies that you leave behind.

“And if a man like Ogbeh has left such a great legacy of good public service to his nation, that is the kind of legacy that all of us must aspire to leave and be remembered for.

“So, even though we are mourning, we have to reflect deeply on our lives and see whether Ogbeh and his likes are our shining light and guardian angels,” he said.

Jime, who was the 2019 Benue APC governorship candidate, further extended his deepest condolences to the family and all men of good conscience over the death of Chief Ogbeh.

“I also like to extend my deepest condolences not only to his immediate family but indeed to all men and women of good faith. Ogbeh inspired all of us. This is a tragic loss of monumental proportions,” he said.

The deceased, who was a former Minister of Communications, Steel Development, and Agriculture and Rural Development, was also a farmer and playwright.

Ogbeh joined politics at a young age and was elected into the Benue State House of Assembly on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, in 1979, where he served as Deputy Speaker.