At age 37 on 29 May 1999, Mr Donald Duke became the governor of Cross River State and was re-elected for a second term in 2003, leaving office in 2007 after a successful tenure. Duke received his LLB degree in 1982 from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, his B.L. in 1983 from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos and an L.L.M. in Business and Admiralty Law in 1984 from the University of Pennsylvania, United States. "Every other period, I'm guarded, but when I'm playing music, I'm just myself," according to Duke who admitted learning how to play the piano, flute, guitar before he eventually settled for the saxophone at a very young age.