Oronto Douglas

Oronto Douglas was 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. He co-founded Africa’s foremost environmental movement, the Environmental Rights Action-Friends of the Earth Nigeria and served in the board of several non profit organizations within and outside Nigeria. He was a commissioner for information, culture, tourism and strategy for Bayelsa state and a delegate for the 2005 National Political Reform Conference. He was the special adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on research, documentation and strategy, and documented the president’s achievements and legacies. He was known for his courage, charisma and conviction, and for speaking 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, Bill Clinton, at the White House. He died on April 9, 2015, at the age of 49, from cancer-related complications. He was buried on January 26, 2016, at his country home in Ibuzo Amaokwe Udi, Enugu State. He is survived by his wife and children.