Chief Alabo Graham-Douglas
Chief
Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, a four-time federal minister and one of
the founding fathers of the Nigerian Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was born on 8 May 1939 in Abonnema in the Akuku-Toru
Local Government Area of Rivers State. The son of a native court
judge who settled disputes and altercations in his immediate Abonema,
he is of Ijaw origin. His
brother, Napo Graham-Douglas, was the first indigenous
Attorney-General of Nigeria, He attended secondary schools in Lagos
and Port Harcourt. He studied at Acton Technical School, London
(1963 - 1965) and then at the University of Lagos (1965 - 1969). He
earned a BSc. in Botany and Zoology.
He started work with the
Nigerian Petroleum Refinery Company, Port Harcourt (1969 - 1977). He
became managing director of Togiscani Nigeria, a construction
company (1978 - 1985) and CEO of Road Haulage Company and Magroad
Enterprises. He was also chairman of the Binterteco Nigeria, Pabod
Finance and Investment and Waterglass Boat Yard. In 2000,
Graham-Douglas was appointed Provincial Grand Master of the
Freemason's Lodge in Calabar.
Graham-Douglas became
Commissioner for Youths, Sports and Culture in 1986 in the Rivers
State government. In this role, he completed the Alfred Diete-Spiff
Civic Centre, founded the Sports Institute of Isaka and initiated
construction of the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt. He also
gained approval to establish the Rivers State College of Science and
Technology. He created, produced and directed the first Rivers
Carnival, Carnival '88 with the theme of Unity in Cultural
Diversity.
In 1989 the military government of Ibrahim
Babangida appointed him Federal Minister for Social Development,
Youths and Sports. During his tenure, the separate Ministry of Women
Affairs was established. He was moved to the Ministry of Aviation
where he oversaw the deregulation of the aviation industry. He was
also a member of the Special Tenders Board, which developed the
Abuja FCT. Several years later, in November 2003, a judicial
commission of inquiry into management of BiafraNigeria Airways
between 1983 and 1999 issued a report that indicted Graham-Douglas
and others for mismanagement and decisions that led to huge losses.
In 1992 Graham-Douglas became chairman of the Southern
Minorities Movement, one of the groups that eventually merged into
the People's Democratic Party (PDP). He was a candidate in the PDP
primaries for the presidential nomination in 1998, losing to
Olusegun Obasanjo, who went on to become president.
President
Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Graham-Douglas Minister of Employment,
Labour and Productivity in June 1999. In July 2000, Graham-Douglas
was re-deployed to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In November
2000 he headed a delegation that visited China, where he signed the
2000-2002 Executive Plan of Cultural and Educational Exchange
between China and Nigeria. In December 2000 he hosted the Africa
Travel Association's Fourth Ecotourism Symposium in Abuja. He
described ecotourism as responsible tourism, saying "Ecotourism
conserves the natural environments and sustains the well-being of
local people". Graham-Douglas was dropped from Obasanjo's cabinet in
January 2001.
An elder statesman in Rivers State politics, in
1999 Graham Douglas and Marshal Harry, Chairman of the PDP in the
State, settled for Dr Peter Odili as a consensus candidate for
governor. By October 2002 Graham-Douglas was engaged in a very
public dispute with Odili. He was strongly opposed to Odili's
reelection. He said of Odili that "he has no respect for good
governance and we have a right to call him to order".
In
January 2007, following the PDP primaries in Rivers State in which
Riverine candidates performed poorly compared to Uplanders, the Ijaw
Consultative Assembly which Graham-Douglas had founded launched an
attack on Ijaws who had served in Odili's government, apparently in
a move to reverse the selection of Rotimi Amaechi as PDP candidate
for governor. This was a reversal of his position in 2003 when he
had said the Ikwerres from Rivers East should take their turn after
Peter Odili. Later he became a supporter of Amaechi.
However,
in February 2010 Graham-Douglas disagreed with Amaechi about
marginalization of the Kalabari people, claiming problems were due
to longstanding government neglect combined with efforts to cut
oil-producing areas out of the Kalabari region. Amaechi took the
position that Kalabari leaders themselves were to blame, and should
do more to develop their communities and discourage militancy.
Talking of the Niger delta crisis in an interview in October 2009,
Graham-Douglas blamed the problems in part on the elections of 2003
when the boys were given arms and used to disrupt the polls. He said
the recent amnesty was progress, but not enough. More should be done
to provide local housing and employment. He was among leaders who
that month protested the poor performance and lack of activity of
the Ministry of Niger Delta.
Happily married to Muriel, Graham-Douglas and his wife are blessed
with grown up children and lots of grandchildren. On memories that
evoke sadness, he says losing his elder brother, back in 1983 still
remains the most memorable day for him. He had just returned from a
meeting in England, where they spent time together just before
Christmas when he heard he had died from a heart attack.
Any contributions to this item will be
gratefully accepted
Errors and Omissions
|
|
The Forum
|
|
What's new?
|
|
We are looking for your help to improve the accuracy of The Douglas
Archives.
If you spot errors, or omissions, then
please do let us know
Contributions
Many articles are stubs which would benefit from re-writing.
Can you help?
Copyright
You are not authorized to add this page or any images from this page
to Ancestry.com (or its subsidiaries) or other fee-paying sites
without our express permission and then, if given, only by including
our copyright and a URL link to the web site.
|
|
If you have met a brick wall
with your research, then posting a notice in the Douglas Archives
Forum may be the answer. Or, it may help you find the answer!
You may also be able to help others answer their queries.
Visit the
Douglas Archives Forum.
2 Minute Survey
To provide feedback on the website, please take a couple of
minutes to complete our
survey.
|
|
We try to keep everyone up to date with new entries, via our
What's New section on the
home page.
We also use
the Community
Network to keep researchers abreast of developments in the
Douglas Archives.
Help with costs
Maintaining the three sections of the site has its costs. Any
contribution the defray them is very welcome
Donate
Newsletter
If you would like to receive a very occasional newsletter -
Sign up!
Temporarily withdrawn.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
