The Noble Path of Senator Ogbeha

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I met Senator Babatunde Jonathan Ogbeha for the first time in the mansion of the then President of Senate at Apo. A conversation took place and at the end of which he exclaimed “you people (the former Senate President and his wife, my sister) are not promoting this gentleman well! He is a good musician”. I immediately literally “sacked” my sister and her husband, and Senator Ogbeha became “my manager”; and what a wonderful manager he has been.

The book The Noble Path, a biography of Senator Ogbeha, is a page turner; about 350 pages of Nigerian history and the story of his life. The book is simple, straight to the point and worth reading by every educated Nigerian and historians.

Ogbeha’s knowledge of the role of the Nigerian army in the supervision of the plebiscite in Cameroon in the 1960s influenced his desire to join the army. Without informing his parents, he went to the military school and then onward to the Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA). What may be worth mentioning here is that, then, Middle-Belters in Nigeria were not encouraged to enroll in higher institutions. Sad and bad.

This became a blessing of some sort; as the civil war was fought mostly by citizens of then middle belt. Of course, they reaped the bounties too! The youthful head of state then, General Yakubu Gowon, was a Middle Belter.

Senator Ogbeha’s father, a Policeman and later an Honourable Commissioner in the Kwara State government, supported his son’s choice of the military career. He encouraged him and was very proud of him. Senator Babatunde Ogbeha’s mother had her doubts though. Her son’s brilliance in mathematics and other science subjects made her hope that he would become a doctor or an engineer.

On his return from a course in America, financial necessities made him to contemplate a visit to Major Dimka’s residence, who had also attended one of the courses at the NDA. Luckily, he did not make the trip. That visit would have roped him in as an accomplice in Dimka’s coup.

But, he was active in General Babangida’s coup. Babangida’s administration made him military administrator of the new Akwa Ibom State and the then Bendel State. He retired from the military as a Brigadier General, during General Sanni Abacha’s regime.

Ogbeha played a major role in the creation of Kogi State. His family life progressed too, as he got married and had children.  Unfortunately, he was to lose his beloved wife in a motor accident just before he was sworn in as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

One of his major achievements as a Senator was the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). Part of that Bill has been adopted by the 8th Senate.

After two terms at the Senate, he respected the gentleman’s agreement he had with his constituents to do only two terms. I can vouch that a gentleman Ogbeha surely and truly is.

He set up a radio station overlooking the confluence of River Niger and River Benue on a mountain called, Patti, in Lokoja, Kogi State. To help the youths, he also set up a recording studio.

He remarried a Ghanaian lady, Esther. As an Anglican, he has obeyed God’s instruction that a man should have a companion. The book The Noble Path, a biography of Senator Ogbeha has joined other great books written by or about distinguished officers of the Nigerian army. I commend this book to the general reading public.

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