Jonathan Mourns -Oronto Douglas- Special Adviser's Demise

President Jonathan’s top aide, Oronto Douglas, is dead

April 9, 2015Musikilu Mojeed

Oronto Douglas

Oronto Douglas, the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Research, Documentation and Strategy, is dead.

Mr. Douglas, 49, a presidency source said, passed on at the State House clinic at 4:58 a.m. Thursday.

The real cause of his death is unknown at this time, but the presidential adviser is said to have managed a terminal illness for sometime, and had, from time to time, sought treatment abroad for prolonged periods.

Born 1966, Mr. Douglas is regularly described as one of Mr. 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.

“He was one of those who had the most far-reaching influence on President Jonathan,” a presidential aide said.

A lawyer and committed environmentalist, Mr. Douglas was a commissioner for information in Bayelsa and was a delegate from the state for the 2005 National Political Reform Conference organised by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

He emerged one of the shinning stars of that conference as the Niger Delta region pushed for improved revenue allocation to the area to mitigate the effect of oil exploitation.

Mr. 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 runup 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.