Oronto Douglas: Exit of an Activist
It is often said that the good things people do live after them, and that a person’s true worth is only realised after the finality of death. But for Oronto Douglas, who sadly bowed to the cold hands of death in the early hours of Thursday, April 9 after a long battle with cancer, his value was appreciated long before he took a bow.
From the oil- drenched trenches of the Niger Delta to the hallowed chambers of the courtrooms; from the streets of London, and US to the vaunted corridors of the Aso Rock Villa, Oronto brought to bear his razor- sharp intellect and rugged determination, his humour and his penchant for strategies.
A lawyer who doggedly stood by his belief in the struggle for justice and environmental rights, Douglas packed in his 49 years on earth what most people cannot achieve in a hundred years.
He lived the struggle and endured the accompanying pains of the struggle to the point where he became a long- standing reference point in the emancipation of the Niger Delta region.
Douglas came to national and international prominence as an environmental activist on behalf of the oil- producing communities of the Niger Delta. He was one of the lawyers who represented popular poet and human- rights activist, Ken Saro- Wiwa. A lawyer by profession, the deceased was born in 1966.
According to reports, the environmentalist had been sick for several years. Even so, associates of President Jonathan said he continued to work over the last few weeks for Mr. Jonathan’s reelection, with one source saying he was devastated when his principal lost the presidential polls.
The real cause of his death is unknown at this time, but the presidential adviser was said to have managed a terminal illness for some time, and had, from time to time, sought treatment abroad for prolonged periods. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2008 and had been battling the disease since then.
At some stage, he was thought to have survived as the cancer went into remission, but he suffered a relapse in 2011. He had been visibly sick in the last one year, losing weight dramatically and sometimes needing a wheelchair to move around in the last three months, according to an online report in The Cable.
Douglas, a trusted aide of Jonathan, travelled to the US in March for his regular check- up and was told by his doctors that he could not survive further medication. “They told him he would die in a matter of days. That was on March 18, 2015. He had to choose between dying in the US and returning to Nigeria. He decided to return home,” the source said.
He was said to be in high spirits up till the moments leading to his death, which occurred at 4: 58am on Thursday at the State House clinic, Abuja.
Unlike in 2011 when he went on the nationwide campaign tour of Jonathan, he was not strong enough to participate in the 2015 campaign, and could no longer go to office. Douglas, who would have clocked 49 on August 6, cut his teeth as a young lawyer and environmental rights activist. He was the deputy director of the Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria, a group devoted to “protecting the environment”.
He was a member of the legal team that represented Ken Saro- Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists at their trial under Gen. Sani Abacha’s government in 1994- 95. The Ogoni Nine, as they were called, were executed in November 1995 in what was described as “judicial murder”.
The Okoroba- born humanitarian had degrees in law from the University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, and De Montfort, Leicester, England. He was commissioner for Information in Bayelsa State, but resigned in 2005 when DSP Alamieyeseigha, then governor, was impeached. He left behind a wife and two young sons.
Douglas was regularly described as one of Jonathan’s most brilliant and influential aides, documenting the President’s achievements and legacies, and helping coordinate parallel media and campaign strategies for the presidency.
A committed environmentalist, Douglas was a delegate from the state for the 2005 National Political Reform Conference organised by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
He emerged one of the shining stars of that conference as the Niger Delta region pushed for improved revenue allocation to the area to mitigate the effect of oil exploitation.
Douglas’ last Facebook post was on March 8 when he shared the video of Mr. Jonathan’s interview with foreign news channel, Al- Jazeera, in the run- up to the March 28 presidential election.
“The Conviction with which President Jonathan says “I Will Not Lose the Election’ is compelling almost to the point of prophesy. This is a President well connected to his people,” he wrote in what appears his analysis of Mr. Jonathan’s performance in the interview.
Self-Description
On his Facebook page Douglas described himself thus: “Oronto Douglas; is a leading human rights attorney in Nigeria, and served as one of the lawyers on the defense team for the Ogoni leader Ken Saro Wiwa, who was executed by Nigeria’s military rulers in 1995. Douglas co- founded Africa’s foremost environmental movement, the Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria and has served in the board of several non- profit organisations within and outside Nigeria. Though he has been arrested and tortured by successive military regimes, he continues to work for and speak out on issues of social justice in a corporate- military state.
“He was the first Niger Delta activist to be hosted by a serving American President – he presented the Niger Delta struggle at the White House to President Bill Clinton. Douglas, who advises the Nigerian Vice President on strategic issues of community and the environment, is a fellow of both the George Bell Institute ( England) and the International Forum on Globalisation ( USA). Widely traveled, Douglas has presented papers in over 200 international conferences and has visited over 50 countries to speak and present on human rights and the environment. He is the author of several works including the ground breaking ‘ Where Vultures Feast, Shell and human rights in the Niger Delta’, which he co- authored with his friend Ike Okonta.
“Environmentalist and Special Adviser to the President on Research, Documentation and Strategy, Oronto Douglas has been named among the 20 most influential writers, thinkers, and activists in the world. Douglas was listed in a recent book “Political Awakenings: Conversations with History” by Harry Kreiser the Executive Director of the Institute of International Studies, University of California. Mr. Douglas was selected with 19 others, from 485 interviews of people which the book described as “distinguished men and women who by the power of their intellect and strength of character shape the world.” Mr. Douglas made the Science, Food and The Environment: Movement for Justice category, which comprised select individuals that have challenged corporate power which seeks to disproportionately reap the benefits of science and technology to the detriment of the society.
Odes to a Great Mind
As the news of Douglas passage flew around the Web on Thursday, many eminent Nigerians who knew him have been eulogising the dogged fighter, who took the practice of law and environmental activism to a global stage.
Those who spoke glowingly about Oronto included former governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Executive Director of Africa Network on Economic and Environmental Justice ( ANEEJ), Rev. David Ugolor; Africa Country Director of MacArthur Foundation, Dr. Kole Shettima; Executive Director of Legal Defence and Advocacy Project ( LEDAP), Mr. Chino Obiagwu; Chairman, Partners for Electoral Reform, Mr. Ezenwa Nwangwu; Engineer, Human Rights Activist and Conflict Manager, U. S. Ladan ( Snr); Executive Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Mr. Hussein Abdu; and the current National Publicity Secretary of the Nigeria Bar Association ( NBA), Mr. Gbolahan Gbadamosi, among others.
Oronto Douglas, who this reporter knew briefly but recalls his humour and wit with fondness, has left his huge footprints in the sands of time. He came, he saw, he struggled, he rose to the pinnacle of his career, and he fought a terminal illness with every ounce of his breadth. He may have left the stage now, but according to Ugolor, “Oronto Douglas is not dead; he still lives”.
As Nigeria, led by President Goodluck Jonathan, mourns a worthy citizen, the struggle for what he lived for – environmental justice- continues. Adieu, Oronto