THE ORONTO WE NEED TO KNOW : 10 things you should know about Oronto Douglas ... YNaij

 

 

Oronto Douglas, President Goodluck Jonathan’s special adviser on Research, Documentation and Strategy died in the wee hours of Thursday after a long battle with cancer related illness.

Here are the 10 things you should know about him:

1. Douglas was one of Nigeria’s leading environmental human right lawyer.
2. He  is the director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria which he helped co-founded.
3. Douglas was a member of the legal team that represented Ken Saro-Wiwa before he was executed by the Nigerian military junta in November 1995.
4. He has served on the board of several non-profit organizations within and outside the country and has been a visiting lecturer and speaker at community-organized events, international conferences, and universities all over the world.
5. He remains the first Niger Delta activist to have been hosted at the White House by a serving American President in the heydays of President Bill Clinton.
6. His articles and speeches have been published in books, journals, and magazines in Nigeria, Europe and the United States.
7. Douglas is a Fellow of the George Bell Institute, England, and the International Forum on Globalization, USA.
8. He was the Commissioner for Information, Culture, Tourism and Strategy for Bayelsa state in Nigeria.
9. Oronto Douglas was a Nollywood ally who help facilitate the relationship between President Jonathan and Nollywood. He also made it possible for Nollywood to receive N3billion from Jonathan.
10. With his friend, Ike Okonta, he co-authored Where Vultures Feast, the ground-breaking study on Shell and human rights violation in the Niger Delta.