Notes for File
It belies simple logic, and perhaps, personality comprehension, that 15 years after leaving office as governor of Cross River, eclectic Donald Duke, remains a darling of all and across political divides. That his presence still stirs a near mob reaction is something political scientists need to study and unravel.
There is, without a doubt, a confounding attachment to Duke by an average Cross Riverian, who still relishes the memories of his days in office and has continued to see the state from the pictures of evident leadership provided by this amiable personality.
Unfortunately, as beautiful as this sounds, it has also remained Duke’s undoing in the politics of the state, as both former and incumbent governors of the state, have had to struggle for attention whenever he is at an event with them in the state.
The people have continued to show appreciation to his stellar performance and sound leadership through spontaneous jubilation at the mention of his name.
There are stories of how a certain former governor of the state had either avoided events, which already had Duke seated before him, or turned back upon learning he was around. He was even said to have turned down some invitations, because he loathes to share space with Duke, as a result of his overwhelming personality.
Of course, the incumbent cannot run away from the situation, because he is governor, even though they’re of different parties now. But, he has managed to live with the mental torture of Duke’s domineering personality, much as it is not his own making and has no control of how people react to his presence.
Ironically, what Duke enjoys today is what many other politicians, supposedly with near-equal name recognition, pay to savour. And if you know Duke well enough, there’s no telling he is too cosmopolitan to throw money around for attention like an archetypal politician.
Just maybe Duke is not the type of politician to envy. Not only does he mind his business, he carries with him everywhere, his doting personality sculpted by his innate intellectual contents as the drivers of his ideological leanings.
