Life And Times Alabo T.O Graham-Douglas

The narrow 140 year old main street in Abonnema, the riverside community, will experience a major choking human crush this weekend as family, friends, political associates and townspeople flood the quaint island by the Sombriero River, in Akuku Toru Local Government Area, to bid Alabo Tamunotenyim Omubo Graham-Douglas, farewell.
Graham-Douglas who died April 25, 2022 after an illness which saw him spend considerable time abroad and Abuja, was born May 8,1939 into the illustrious Douglas family of Abonnema, the picturesque community with a spectacular tourist view from the bridge leading to it.
Appointments
TOG had an interesting public service record. He was one of the few Nigerians privileged to have been appointed minister four times. He served under military and civilian administrations in different departments. In 1989, Graham-Douglas was appointed Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture by the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida regime. In 1990, he was appointed Minister of Aviation. In 1999 at the return to civilian governance, he was appointed Minister of Labour and Productivity by the Olusegun Obasanjo government. From 2000-2001, he served as Minister, Culture and Tourism. This last assignment was a step up and fitting as he had before this served in outstanding ways as Commissioner for Culture in Rivers State where he brought in flair and colour as the commissioner who introduced the famous Carniriv, a festival of culture, drama, dance and parades that was savoured by people in the state and beyond
Proudly Kalabari and Ijaw.

Alabo is famously acknowledged as the singular public figure, who popularised the wearing of woko, doni and tall hats. The woko is the formal traditional, loose fitting men’s top with matching trousers usually worn with accompanying gold, silver adornments or gemstones. The suits are made with suiting fabrics. With his impressive height and gait, Alabo wore these with such panache that they quickly became popular among the young and old fashionable males across generations, not just within the Kalabari and other Ijaw people but, across the Niger Delta and beyond. Items of male fashion that were really no more than relics of aristocratic British colonialism, worn so fittingly by one man, soon became the rave across generations and ethnicity.
The Doni, usually made of richer fabrics, is way more spectacular. It is usually reserved for special occasions including Chieftaincy installations, marriages and similar celebrations. Alabo brought the wearing of these to such classy prominence in the past three decades
Not only was Alabo the traditional fashion avatar, he popularised the adoption of the Kalabari prefix ‘Alabo’ rather than ‘Chief’ with its derogatory, colonial denotations. These days unfortunately, the prefix has lost its lustre as its use has become largely bastardised, with all manner of ‘nouveau riche’ from politics types and political climbers adopting the prefix. Another ‘Alabo’ is needed to clean up this space to restore the dignity of this title and its bearers.
Siblings

TOG, as he was addressed also had siblings who were super accomplished in different professions. His more visibly known older sibling was Nabo Graham Douglas who was SAN number two after Chief Rotimi Williams. Nabo was also the first Attorney General of Rivers state following its creation in May, 1967 and served under the outstandingly accomplished Alfred Diete Spiff administration. He had another sibling, Donald Graham-Douglas, who was one time Chief Judge of Rivers State. Another brother Melford Graham Douglas was a respected medical doctor.
Final rest
Abonnema history has it that his grandfather, Da Orubibi was one of the founding Fathers of the town. The Orubibi forebear was said to have been on a private visit along with his friend, Da Tom Kalakpana Pedro, a Chief, businessman and interpreter to the colonial administrators, when they happened on the land by the Sombriero River. The Kalabari people were then still mostly in the Old Shipping Elem Kalabari where they had built prosperous communities and trade spheres. These had fallen into strife and there was an urgent pressure to relocate from Elem Kalabari. A strand moved from Elem Kalabari to the new land they christened Nyemoni, transliterated to ‘Love, be proud of your own’. The name Abonnema, most likely that given by the colonials, stuck and has become more widely used.

TOG leaves large shoes, not just in a physical sense, but more in a metaphorical sense as there are very few politicians in the Kalabari and Rivers space of his stature with formidable friends and political associates across the political divide and geo spaces in the state and country. Indeed, with his passing, an urgency exists for the Kalabari and entire state to present new political leadership with clearly demonstrated commitment to service, with enough clout, class and commitment to affect some of pressing challenges of development in the State and Niger Delta, that are inescapably pulsating, beyond the spectacle of his final rest this week.