Rufus Ada George
{{Short description|Former Governor of Rivers State}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Rufus Ada George
|image =
|width = 150px
|office1 = 2nd Governor of Rivers State
|term_start1 = January 1992
|term_end1 = November 1993
|deputy1 = Peter Odili
|predecessor1 = Godwin Osagie Abbe
|successor1 = Dauda Musa Komo
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1940|7|11|df=y}}
|birth_place = Okrika, Rivers State
|death_date =
|party =
|spouse = Rose A. George
|Educational background =
}}
Rufus Ada George (born 11 July 1940) was the second Governor of Rivers State, Nigeria, holding office from January 1992 until November 1993 during the Nigerian Third Republic.{{cite web
|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Nigeria_federal_states.htm
|title=Nigeria States
|work=WorldStatesmen
|accessdate=2010-03-29}}
Background
Ada George was born on 11 July 1940 at George-Ama, Okrika, Rivers State. He qualified as an accountant, and became a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
He was an accountant with Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria from April 1972 to December 1979, where he left as Assistant Chief Accountant to join the Rivers State government.
Under the administration of Chief Melford Okilo, he was the Secretary to the State Government and had held other positions including Director-General, Works Directorate and Director of Tribunals and Enquires.
Later he was the deputy managing director of the investment company Dangil Holdings Limited (1984–1991), before being elected governor of Rivers State.{{cite web
|url = http://adageorge.org/index.php
|publisher = Rufus Ada-George
|title = Rufus Ada-George
|accessdate = 2010-03-29
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110622165341/http://adageorge.org/index.php
|archivedate = 2011-06-22
}}
Governor of Rivers State
Ada George was elected on the National Republican Convention (NRC) platform as Governor of Rivers State in the preliminary elections sponsored by General Ibrahim Babangida as a step towards full democracy with the Third Republic. He took office in January 1992.
His deputy governor was Peter Odili, who was himself elected governor in 1999.{{cite web
|url = http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/columnists/femi/2009/femi-feb-06-2009.htm
|work = Daily Sun
|title = I fear men like Shinkafi
|author = Femi Adesina
|date = February 6, 2009
|accessdate = 2010-03-29
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20100118124625/http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/columnists/femi/2009/femi-feb-06-2009.htm
|archivedate = January 18, 2010
}}
In 1993 the Ogoni people in Rivers State, led by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, protested against exploitation by Shell, Ada George's former employer. Violence resulted. The Ogoni considered that the governor was encouraging the conflict. There was a delay of two months before federal troops were deployed to restore the peace.{{cite book
|page=514
|title=Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization: yearbook 1995
|author=Mary Kate Simmons
|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
|year=1996
|ISBN=90-411-0223-X}}{{cite book
|page=190
|title=A Game As Old As Empire: The Secret World of Economic Hit Men and the Web of Global Corruption: Easyread Edition
|author=Steve Hiatt
|publisher=ReadHowYouWant.com
|year=2009
|ISBN=1-4429-6149-X}}
Ada George's tenure ended when General Sani Abacha took power in a military coup in November 1993. Ada George retired into private life until the ban on politics was lifted by Abacha's successor Abdulsalami Abubakar in 1998.{{cite web
|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200911110210.html?page=2
|title=Sixteen Years After - Where Are Babangida's Civilian Governors?
|work=ThisDay
|author=Ademola Adeyemo
|date=10 November 2009
|accessdate=2010-03-29}}
Later career
After the return to democracy in 1999, Ada-George became a leader of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in Rivers State.
Violence broke out in Okrika, Rivers State between 22 and 24 September 2001.{{cite web
|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200806260220.html
|title=Ex-Gov Ada George Fingered in Okrika Crises
|work=Vanguard
|author=George Onah
|date=26 June 2008
|accessdate=2010-03-29}}
During another outbreak of violence in Okrika in 2002, reportedly initiated by the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP), both his houses were burned down.{{cite web
|url = http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/citysun/2006/jan/11/citysun-11-01-2006-001.htm
|title = HEAVENLY TEARS..As rain drenches sympathizers at burial of ex-governor’s mother-in-law
|author = CHRIS IKWUNZE
|date = January 11, 2006
|work = Daily Sun
|accessdate = 2010-03-29
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20061230172304/http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/citysun/2006/jan/11/citysun-11-01-2006-001.htm
|archivedate = December 30, 2006
}}
In June 2008 the state Truth and Reconciliation Commission heard accusations that Ada George had sponsored the bush boys in the September 2001 outbreak in an attempt to install the All People's Party (APP) in the area.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{RiversStateGovernors}}
{{State governors in the Nigerian Third Republic}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Rufus Ada}}