Donald Duke

Donald Duke Biography / Profile

Donald Etim Duke was born on September 30th, 1961 at 16 Annesley Street, Calabar to the family of Mr. Henry Etim Duke and Mrs. Genevieve Etim Duke. The fourth in the family of five children, his father was the Chairman of the Board of Customs and Excise (now The Nigerian Customs Service) between 1967 and 1975. Donald Duke was Governor of Cross River State, Nigeria from May 29th, 1999 to May 29th, 2007.

Donald Duke Age

Donald Duke is 63 years old.

Donald Duke Early Life

Duke went through primary education at Corona and Saint Mary's School in Lagos, attended Federal Government Colleges (both Unity Schools) at Sokoto and Ilorin and thereafter returned to the Federal School of Arts and Science, Lagos for his 'A' Levels. An Honours Graduate of Law of the famous Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, he successfully completed his professional training at the Nigerian Law School, Victoria Island, Lagos, following which he was called to the Bar in 1983.

Donald Duke Career

Not too long after his call to bar, he proceeded to the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, one of America's leading Universities which has produced numerous world leaders of diverse backgrounds including Presidents and Heads of State/Governments, Senators and Governors. Since the object of his mission at Pennsylvania was to properly equip himself for a challenging corporate world, he took graduate course work at Wharton Business School, concurrently as he obtained the Master of Laws (LLM) Degree of the University with a specialization in International Business Law and Admiralty. Shortly after completing these two programmes, he joined the prestigious Washington DC Law firm of Baker & Hostetler as an Associate.

Having acquired sufficient grounding and exposure in academics, business and law practice in the United States, Mr. Duke returned to Nigeria and teamed up with some colleagues to establish the highbrow Lagos based Law partnership of Onyia & Duke. coupled with active practice, he soon assumed full management of the family's shipping business when he became Chief Executive of Hegeds International Limited.

Mr. Duke's first entry into public Governance was in 1991 when he was first appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of Voice of Nigeria. This was quickly followed by another appointment in 1992 when Governor Clement D. Ebri appointed him as a member of the Cross River State Executive Council and Commissioner for Finance, Budget and planning, during which tenure he chaired the Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting of September, 1993. The appointment as Commissioner was unfortunately short lived due to the abrupt change in Government in November, 1993.

He returned to private life in the course of which he, among other things, became chairman of Allied Merchants & Brokers Limited, a sole Africa Franchisee for US-based Uncle Ben's Rice. As would be expected of any shining star that does not easily dim, Mr. Duke in 1996 emerged at the national scene when he was appointed as a member of the National Economic Intelligence Committee as well as the Federal Economic Council. He later served as a member of the Federal Budget Monitoring Committee and Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee for the Privatisation of the National Fertilizer Company Limited (NAFCON). In all of these public assignments, Mr. Duke exhibited his legendary intelligence, thoroughness and high capacity for hard work, an experience which will later stand him in good stead.

An active participant in Nigeria's recent political transition programmes. Duke was on 9th January, 1999 elected for a four year term as Governor of Cross river State under the platform of the People's Democratic Party. Among Governor Duke's notable achievements are the upgrading of the Cattle Ranch in Obanliku into a Ranch Resort, the transformation of Cross River State into a world tourism destination, real investment inflow, job creation, reform of the State Civil Service, computerization of the nominal and payroll system for the public service and cultivation of Banking culture for Public/Civil Servants, etc. Agriculture took centre-stage with the establishment of export-oriented agricultural projects for the cultivation of such crops lines as pipe-apple, castor oil, cashew and oil palm. Described glowingly as the champion of development politics, he was was overwhelmingly re-elected for another four-year term (2003-2007) on April 19th, 2002. He was succeeded on May 29th, 2007 by Liyel Imoke.

Since leaving his post as governor, Duke has eyed the presidential office of Nigeria. In 2007, he dropped out of the race to the eventual winner, Umaru Musa Ya'Adua. There are rumours that he intends contesting again in 2019.

Donald Duke Personal Life

A widely travelled young man and a member of leading Social Clubs and philanthropic Organizations, Duke is happily married to Owanari Bob Manuel Duke (nee Bob Manuel) an accomplished Legal Practitioner in her own right. The couple is blessed with three daughters; Xerona, Nella and Dona.

Duke’s net worth has grown significantly in 2018. His net worth is estimated to be in the range of approximately $63,095,734 in 2018.