Donald Duke
{{Short description|Nigerian politician (born 1961)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Use Nigerian English|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Donald Duke
| office1 = Governor of Cross River State
| term_start1 = 29 May 1999
| term_end1 = 29 May 2007
| predecessor1 = Christopher Osondu
| successor1 = Liyel Imoke
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1961|09|30|df=y}}
| birth_place = Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria
| party = People's Democratics Party (PDP)
| office = Commissioner for Finance and Planning
| predecessor = Francis Afufu
| successor = Walter Patrick Eneji
| alma_mater = Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Class of 1982
University of Pennsylvania Class of 1984
| nationality = Nigerian
| term = 1992-1993
| website = https://www.donaldduke.ng
| spouse = Onari Duke
}}
Donald Duke {{Audio|Ig-Donald Duke.ogg|listen|help=no}} (born 30 September 1961 in Calabar) is a Nigerian politician. He was the Governor of Cross River State, Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007 and the 2019 Nigeria Presidential candidate for Social Democratic Party, SDP.{{cite web |last1=Nnochiri |first1=Ikechukwu |title=Breaking: A-Court affirms Duke as SDP Presidential candidate |url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/01/breaking-a-court-affirms-duke-as-sdp-presidential-candidate/ |website=Vanguard |date=24 January 2019 |access-date=13 February 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Toromade |first1=Samson |title=Ex-Governor officially declares to run for president in 2019 |url=https://www.pulse.ng/news/politics/donald-duke-ex-governor-officially-declares-to-run-for-president-in-2019/43pd5yz |website=Pulse |date=9 June 2018 |access-date=13 February 2019}}
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).https://www.nigerianbulletin.com/threads/reforming-the-nigeria-customs-service.151796/{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
He attended Corona School, Lagos, and Federal Government College, Sokoto.{{cite web | url =https://allafrica.com/stories/200609030155.html | title =Nigeria: Term Limits for Elected Office Holders Undemocratic, Gov. Donald Duke | last =Ogunbiyi | first =Yemi | date =3 September 2006 | publisher =AllAfrica | access-date =2019-01-01 }}
He received his LLB degree in 1982 from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria – Nigeria, his B.L. in 1983 from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, and an L.L.M. in Business and Admiralty Law in 1984 from the University of Pennsylvania.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/tarticles/tension_in_calabar.htm%5B%5D|title=nigerdeltacongress.com|website=nigerdeltacongress.com|language=en|access-date=2018-01-02}}
Political career
Spearheading the incumbent debt of Nigeria, Duke pushed for democracy and against military 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."[http://www.odiousdebts.org/odiousdebts/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=329 Odious Debts – A new deal for Africa: Rooting out looters: Nigeria new president aims for debt relief] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031127044200/http://www.odiousdebts.org/odiousdebts/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=329 |date=27 November 2003 }}
Duke received praise for his contributions to the fields of agriculture, urban development, government, environment, information and communication, investment drive, and tourism, as well as having made Calabar the cleanest city in Nigeria.[http://theplatformnigeria.com/governance500/speakers.php] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130085947/http://theplatformnigeria.com/governance500/speakers.php|date=30 November 2010}}
He initiated the Obudu Ranch International Mountain Race which attracted contestants and visitors from other countries.[http://www.obuduranchmountainrace.com/history.html History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103064744/http://www.obuduranchmountainrace.com/history.html|date=3 January 2010}}. Obudu Ranch Mountain Race. Retrieved on 5 December 2009.Hughes, Danny (21 November 2007). [http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=2/newsId=42451.html Reigning champions return to contest world’s richest mountain running race – Preview]. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-12-05. 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.{{Cite web |last=Babah |first=Chinedu |date=2018-10-08 |title=DUKE, Donald |url=https://blerf.org/index.php/biography/duke-donald/ |access-date=2023-12-20 |website=Biographical Legacy and Research Foundation |language=en-US}}Valentine Achum http://sunnewsonline.com/managing-recession-the-duke-obi-examples/ Daily Sun, 11 OCT 2016. VOL 13 NO. 3512
He also initiated the Calabar Carnival which started in 2004 and is popularly referred to as "Africa's biggest street party."{{Cite web|url=http://www.nico.gov.ng/index.php/cultural-events/37-cultural-events/438-history-of-calabar-canival|title=History of Calabar Carnival|last=Webmaster|website=nico.gov.ng|language=en-gb|access-date=2018-01-31}}
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.{{cite web
|url=http://www.huliq.com/17174/nigeria-tinapa-africas-premier-business-tourism-resort-opens-monday-april-2
|title=Nigeria: Tinapa, Africa's Premier Business-Tourism Resort Opens Monday April 2
|work=Huluq
|date=1 April 2007
|access-date=2011-09-09}}
BBC 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. (Four other governors were also reported as not under investigation but their names were not released.){{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5387814.stm | publisher=BBC News | title=Nigeria governors in graft probe | date=28 September 2006}}
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.{{Cite web |last=Ugwuanyi |first=Sylvester |date=2015-08-11 |title=Yar’Adua, Jonathan were not mentally prepared for power – Donald Duke |url=https://dailypost.ng/2015/08/11/yaradua-jonathan-were-not-mentally-prepared-for-power-donald-duke/ |access-date=2023-12-20 |website=Daily Post Nigeria |language=en-US}}
On 8 June 2018, Duke declared interest in running for presidency in 2019.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pulse.ng/news/politics/donald-duke-officially-declares-to-run-for-president-in-2019-id8475744.html|title = Ex-Governor officially declares to run for president in 2019|date = 9 June 2018}}
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 to run under SDP.{{Cite news|url=https://punchng.com/donald-duke-dumps-pdp-picks-sdp-presidential-form/|title=Donald Duke dumps PDP, picks SDP presidential form|work=Punch Newspapers|access-date=2018-09-05|language=en-US}}
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.{{Cite web|date=2021-06-15|title=Donald Duke rejoins PDP after disastrous SDP run|url=https://www.pulse.ng/news/politics/donald-duke-rejoins-pdp-after-disastrous-sdp-run/w6s31b0|access-date=2021-07-31|website=Pulse Nigeria|language=en}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{CrossRiverStateGovernors}}
{{Nigerian state governors 1999-2003 term}}
{{Nigerian state governors 2003-2007 term}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke, Donald}}
Category:Governors of Cross River State
Category:Peoples Democratic Party state governors of Nigeria
Category:People of Efik descent
Category:Nigerian Law School alumni