Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, a former Nigeria Minister of Youth and Sports is dead,
The former minister whose death was confirmed by Emmanuel Ogbeche, President of the Abuja chapter, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), died at the age of 82.
The Trumpet gathered that Graham-Douglas, an indigene of Kalabari Kingdom in Rivers State until his death, was the paramount head of the Oribibi Douglas Group of the Houses of Abonnema.
The former Federal Minister served the country in various capacities right from General Ibrahim Babangida’s regime where he was the Minister of Aviation in 1989.
Following, during the advent of the country’s nascent democracy, Graham-Douglas who played a key role in the Peoples Democratic Party’s successes in the 1999 general elections where he was a member of the board of trustees, was appointed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the Minister of Labour and Productivity.
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Sequel to this, the now-deceased Kalabari renowned chief was moved to the Ministry of Tourism by former President Obasanjo in 2001 after the latter reshuffled his cabinet.
According to reports, Graham-Douglas, who was a one-time Commissioner of Tourism in the 1980s, organised an ancient festival in Port Harcourt called CANIRIV. The seven days festival was held in Rivers State during the Christmas season.
Though The Trumpet is yet to unravel the cause of the death of Nigeria’s elder statesman and a founding member of the PDP, it is worthy to state that Graham-Douglas was instrumental to the creation of Akuku-Toru Local Government Area in Rivers State.
