When pictures of gaunt-looking
Nigeria’s former Minister of Communication and Director-General of National
Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Dora Akunyili surfaced on the web months ago while she was attending the ongoing National Conference
in Abuja, I was concerned that she needed to have taken enough timeout from the public glare to fully recover from
whatever ailment it was that had so visibly ravished her frame.
A recently
published Yes International interview
(excerpts follow below), has, however, helped me understand why the dogged
professor might not have contemplated such an option: her unflinching love for
Nigeria and a willingness to lay down her life in the service of her beloved country. In a tribute informed by a personal encounter of the Amazon, former
Presidential Liaison Officer to the Senate, Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, alludes to
this love when he writes that Akunyili “defiantly, patriotically [took]
up a national assignment, disregarding the odds, the hazards and even the
encumbrance of a debilitating ailment.” Her
body might have been ravaged by cancer, but not her spirit. And so, like the great
lioness (alumna of the University of Nigeria Nsukka) that she was, she resolutely
determined to fight on. Till the end.
We
will remember and celebrate her for her positive impacts in our lives, fighting
to rid Nigeria and, to some extent, the world of fake drugs (when one takes
into consideration the awareness campaign she waged on the export countries of
such counterfeited drugs, getting the authorities concerned from such countries
to realize the horrendous effects on human life the unconscionable businesses originating
from their countries wreck on Nigeria). This
is hoping that her labors (labors of our heroes past) would not have been in
vain. Rest in eternal peace, worthy lioness. Africa mourns you.
What’s the greatest sacrifice you’ve made as the boss of
NAFDAC?
I think I sacrificed
everything. When you ask me of sacrifice, it is difficult for me to give you a
straight answer. From the first day, I knew that this is a job that can take my
life – but that is if God allows. So, I can now call it the sacrifice of my
life.
