One of the “to do” tasks in the DDP in-tray is going through some of the facts and figures and pulling out any interesting statistics. A kind of “OptaDeath”, if you will. However, I’m 99% sure we can say that Sprent Dabwido is the first ever DDP hit from the nation of Nauru. A former weightlifter who competed (but didn’t medal) at the 1995 World Weightlifting Championships, he was first elected to parliament in 2004. Three years later, as Minister for Telecommunications, he oversaw the introduction of mobile phones to Nauru for the first time.
Voted in as president in 2011, his premiership was most notable for the re-opening of Australia’s immigration detention centres in Nauru, a move he fully supported but was attacked by politicians both at home and abroad. He stood down from the post in 2013 and became a strong critic of his successor, the Bagpuss-faced Baron Waqa.
Dabwido was diagnosed with throat cancer in late 2018 and sought political asylum in Australia for treatment. Yeah, not so keen on immigrants having to wait six months to be seen by qualified individuals now are you Sprent?
Sprent Dabwido
16 September 1972 – 8 May 2019
Died aged 46 (unique hit)