‘Honour Audu Ogbeh by completing green imperative project’ – Okechukwu urges Tinubu
By Kunle Sanni –
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to execute the Green Imperative Project (GIP) as a living memorial to the late Chief Audu Ogbeh, former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Speaking to journalists at the Aso Villa neighbourhood residence of the late Ogbeh in Abuja, Okechukwu said the project — which Ogbeh initiated during his tenure — represented the late statesman’s vision for nationwide agricultural mechanisation and food security.
Chief Audu Ogbeh passed away on August 9, 2025, at the age of 78. In a tribute, President Tinubu described him as “a patriot whose wisdom, dedication, and pursuit of progress left an indelible mark on Nigeria’s political landscape,” adding that the nation would miss his “insightful perspectives and wealth of experience.”
Okechukwu said completing the GIP would be “the greatest legacy” Tinubu could offer in memory of Ogbeh, noting that the programme was designed to utilise every square kilometre of Nigeria’s arable land for crop production and livestock farming.
He recalled that Ogbeh, alongside his team, visited Brazil in 2018 to finalise a Memorandum of Understanding and financial agreements with the Brazilian government, the Islamic Development Bank, and co-insurers to fund the project. “Ogbeh sincerely believed that with a mechanisation armada, Nigeria could become food sufficient and even an agricultural exporter,” Okechukwu said.
Quoting Ogbeh’s last interview with Daily Trust, Okechukwu lamented that the GIP stalled after Ogbeh left office in 2019. In that interview, Ogbeh had criticised the elite’s “scorn” for agriculture and expressed frustration that policies to boost local production, such as rice farming, were cut short despite Nigeria overtaking Egypt as Africa’s top producer under his watch.
Okechukwu stressed that the GIP was a strategic blueprint that could transform Nigeria’s economy, create jobs, and reduce poverty if fully implemented. He urged the Federal Government to revisit the agreements and provide the political will needed to drive the project to completion.
He concluded by praying for the repose of Ogbeh’s soul and calling on President Tinubu to prioritise the GIP “as a matter of urgent national importance” to honour the late minister’s memory and lift millions of Nigerians out of multidimensional poverty.
