Background
He was born on July 15, 1926, at Abonnema tn the Rivers state, where his family has a large house. His brother is the well- known surgeon Dr Melford Graham Douglas.
He was born on July 15, 1926, at Abonnema tn the Rivers state, where his family has a large house. His brother is the well- known surgeon Dr Melford Graham Douglas.
Educated at Kalahari National College, Buguma, and later at Exeter and London Universities, going on to the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in London.
He returned and took up law in Port Harcourt, which has since become the capital of the Rivers state. He built up a thriving private practice, becoming the legal adviser to several Nigerian companies, with a large number of Ibo clients. Immediately after the first Nigerian coup in January 1966, Colonel Udemegwu Ojukwu became Military Governor of the East and appointed him the Eastern Attorney-General. As a Rivers man he had a special place among Ojukwu’s largely Ibo advisers. But after the first massacre against the Easterners on the north, he found it increasingly difficult to work with his Ibo colleagues, who had sustained such a profound emotional shock. He took the unpopular course of advising against secession but, unable to make any impact with Ojukwu, he resigned in September 1966 and returned to his home.
When secession was finally declared he was arrested and detained by Ojukwu and his valuable law library in Port Harcourt was burnt by Biafran troops. In 1968 he was liberated and became an envoy for the Federal government touring Britain and the USA to explain the Nigerian stand.
When Lt.-Commander Diete Spiff formed his Rivers state government early in 1969, he was appointed Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.
During the civil war he had documented public executions and atrocities committed by the Biafrans and after the war he took a hard attitude on such questions as the restoration of confiscated property to its Ibo owners.
When Sir Adetokunbo Ademola retired as Chief Justice and was succeeded by Dr Teslim Elias, Graham Douglas was appointed Attorney-General on February 19, 1972. Since, he has served as head of the Nigerian Bar and chairman of the General Council and on several Federal government legal committees. He was the leader of the Nigerian delegation to the 23rd Assembly of the United Nations.
A tall, imposing figure, highly cultivated and well read, especially in law, where he has collected a formidable law library. A Rivers state man, he came to prominence in the Nigerian civil war, starting as Attorney-General to Colonel Ojukwu, breaking with him over Biafran secession and being detained. He then became one of the most articulate exponents of the Federal cause.