Donald Duke (born 30 September 1961 in

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

) is a Nigerian politician. He was the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Cross River State Cross River State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named for the Cross River, the state was formed from the eastern part of the Eastern Region on 27 May 1967. The state has its capital as Calabar and is bordered to ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

from 29 May

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

to 29 May 2007 and the 2019 Nigeria Presidential candidate for

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

, SDP.

Personal life and education

Duke was born to Henry Etim Duke who was the second indigenous (after Ayodele Diyan) and longest serving Controller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (then referred to as Chairman board of Customs and excise duties). He attended Corona School, Lagos, and Federal Government College, Sokoto. He received his LLB degree in 1982 from

Ahmadu Bello University The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) is a public research university located in Zaria, Nigeria, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. It was opened in 1962 as the University of Northern Nigeria. The university has four colleges, three schools, 18 faculties, ...

, Zaria – Nigeria, his B.L. in 1983 from the

Nigerian Law School The Nigerian Law School is an educational institution set up to provide professional certification to graduates of law. The school was established in Lagos under the Legal Education Act 1962, now Legal Education (Consolidation Etc) Act Cap. L1 ...

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

, and an L.L.M. in Business and Admiralty Law in 1984 from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Political career

Spearheading the incumbent debt of

, Duke pushed for democracy and against

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

control. He stated: "What got the military out of power was not democracy but the dreadful state of the economy. If we, the democratic government, cannot deliver food for the mass of people we can forget about democracy." Duke received praise for his contributions to the fields of

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

urban development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...

, government, environment,

information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...

and

communication Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

, investment drive, and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

, as well as having made Calabar the cleanest city in Nigeria. He initiated the

Obudu Ranch International Mountain Race The Obudu Ranch International Mountain Race is an annual 11.25 km mountain running competition that takes place in late November in Obudu, Cross River State, Nigeria. First held in 2005, it has the largest total prize money available of any mo ...

which attracted contestants and visitors from other countries.History
. Obudu Ranch Mountain Race. Retrieved on 5 December 2009. In 2005, he created a special reserve fund for the state meant to "hedge against economic downturn, and the inevitable rainy day". This was meant to cushion the effect of unforeseeable economic challenges that may occasion uncertainty in the state's internally generated revenue, and monthly allocation from the federal government. He also initiated the Calabar Carnival which started in 2004 and is popularly referred to as "Africa's biggest street party." Duke initiated the Tinapa Resort project as a way to boost business and tourism in the state. Over $350 million was spent on initial development before phase 1 opening in April 2007.

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

reported in September 2006 that Governor Duke was the only governor specifically mentioned as not being under investigation by the federal

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a Nigerian law enforcement and anti-graft agency that investigates financial crimes and unknown transactions such as advance fee fraud (419 fraud) and money laundering. The EFCC was establ ...

. (Four other governors were also reported as not under investigation but their names were not released.) Duke announced that he would run for the presidency in the 2007 election, but stepped aside in favour of the eventual winner,

Umaru Yar'Adua Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (; 16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2007 until his death in May 2010. He won the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 Ma ...

. On 8 June 2018, Duke declared interest in running for presidency in 2019. On Tuesday, 4 September 2018, Duke after much silence as to what party he'll be running under for president, announced that he'll be leaving

PDP PDP may refer to: Computing and technology * Packet Data Protocol in wireless GPRS/HSDPA networks * Parallel distributed processing in Connectionism#Parallel distributed processing, connectionism * Plasma display panel * Policy Decision Point in t ...

to run under SDP. On Monday, 14 June 2021, Duke was officially welcomed back to PDP by the party's leaders after two years of defection to SDP in the presidential race. He stated some reasons why he left, saying that the party neglected and deviated from some of their core principles, and also urged the party to return to these principles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke, Donald 1961 births Living people Governors of Cross River State People from Calabar Peoples Democratic Party state governors of Nigeria People of Efik descent Nigerian Law School alumni Efik Ahmadu Bello University alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni

Personal life and education

Political career

See also

References