Tamunoemi Sokari David-West (August 26, 1936 – November 11, 2019) was a Nigerian academic, social critic, and federal minister.

Academia

David-West was born in

Buguma Buguma City is a larger town in Rivers State, Nigeria. It is the headquarters of the Asari-Toru Local Government Area and base of the Kalabari Kingdom, a Nigerian traditional state. The town has an official Post Office and a big set of commercia ...

, Kalabari, in what is now

Rivers State Rivers State, also known as Rivers, is a state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed in 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include: Imo to the north, Abia and Akwa Ib ...

. He received his higher education at the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

(1956–1958) and earned a BSc degree at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

(1958–1960), an MSc degree at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

(1960–1962), and a PhD degree at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

(1964–1966). David-West was consultant virologist and senior lecturer at the University of Ibadan in 1969 and was subsequently promoted to professor of virology in 1975.Odimegwu Onwumere, "Amaechi, David-West and I," ''Research Nexus'', 11 April 2011.
/ref>

Government

David-West served in Nigerian government as commissioner of education and a member of the Executive Council of Rivers State (1975–1979), as a member of the fifty-person Constitution Drafting Committee for the Federal Military Government of General

Murtala Muhammed Murtala Ramat Muhammad (8 November 1938 – 13 February 1976) was a Nigerian general who led the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup in overthrowing the Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi military regime and featured prominently during the Nigerian Civil War ...

(1979), as federal minister of petroleum and energy under General

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

(1984–1985), and as minister of mines, power, and steel under General

Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as Ch ...

(1986). He was eventually removed as minister and arrested by the Babangida regime for allegedly contributing to the economic adversity of the country; He was discharged and acquitted of these charges by Nigeria's Special Appeal Court on 8 August 1991.

Politics

David-West was an outspoken and controversial critic of Nigerian government policy since his purge and arrest under the military regime of General Babangida. David-West criticized the unconstitutionality of the advisory council established by President

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...

in 2010, and he voiced caution against government unreservedly opening its doors to

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

intelligence.Tunde Babalola, "Tam David West Warns FG over Al Qaeda," ''African Examiner'', 14 May 2011
/ref> Although he was not affiliated with any political party, David-West supported

Chibuike Amaechi Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (born 27 May 1965) is a Nigerian politician, he served as the Federal Minister of Transportation of Nigeria from 2015 to 2022 under the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari. He resigned to contest for Nigeria's presidency ...

of the right-wing-leaning

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

for reelection as governor of Rivers State. Muhammad Bello, "David West, Horsfall, Isokariari Endorse Amaechi," ''AllAfrica'', 18 March 2011.
/ref>

Personal life

David-West died on 11 November 2019. His death was mourned by President

Publications

David-West is the author of academic papers in virology that have appeared in scholarly journals such as ''Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology'' (1966), ''Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene'' (1973), ''Intervirology'' (1974), and ''Journal of Hygiene'' (1974). He also wrote the book ''Philosophical Essays: Reflections on the Good Life'' (1980), in which he describes himself as a follower of British analytic philosopher and social critic

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

. David-West's lecture in philosophy “God, Nature and the Universe” (1981) was delivered at the University of Ibadan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:David-West, Tam 1936 births 2019 deaths Rivers State Commissioners of Education Petroleum ministers of Nigeria McGill University alumni Michigan State University alumni Yale University alumni University of Ibadan alumni Academic staff of the University of Ibadan Educators from Rivers State People from Buguma