A prominent politician from Rivers State and former minister of Aviation as well as former minister of youths, sports, and culture, Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas has died at 82.
News of the elder statesman’s demise filtered into Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Monday morning, though there is no official confirmation from the family.
However, a close source from Kalabari land who pleaded anonymity confirmed the death to ThePunch, saying he has been battling an undisclosed ailment.
The Ijaw icon was born on May 8, 1939, in Abonnema in the Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Chief Graham-Douglas was the son of a native court judge in Abonnema and his Napo Graham-Douglas was the first indigenous Attorney-General of Nigeria.
In 1989, the military Administrator of Ibrahim Babangida appointed him Federal Minister for Social Development, Youths and Sports.
He was later moved to the Ministry of Aviation, where he oversaw the deregulation of the aviation industry.
Graham-Douglas was also a member of the Special Tenders Board, which developed the Abuja FCT.
In 1992, Graham-Douglas became chairman of the Southern Minorities Movement, one of the groups that merged into the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Graham-Douglas Minister of Employment, Labour and Productivity in June 1999.
In July 2000, Graham-Douglas was moved 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.
Graham-Douglas was married to Muriel and blessed with 12 children and many grandchildren.
