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| Dora Akunyili |
I first fell in adoration with Professor Dora Akunyili sometime in 2002 when I watched a news clip of her speaking about her commitment to eradicate counterfeit drugs and unsafe food. Back then, she was the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
At that time, Mrs Akunyili’s enthusiasm and valor to clean up a sector flooded with fake foods and drugs endeared her to a population so ravaged by the dishonesty and mendacity of administration officers. It seemed unfathomable to most of us that such a principled government official, who was ready to risk her personal safety in order to do what was right in her capacity as a Nigerian in the position of authority, would operate with the kind of unabated zeal that she did.
To Africa’s most populous nation, she was the amazon who became a breath of fresh air. Together with the likes of Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, she was the conscience of a nation and the poster child for what a new Nigeria could be if only we took the initiative and embraced the courage to do what was right. She came across as a very blunt woman who was unapologetic for her convictions and ideals. She was the government insider that wasn’t afraid to stand up and speak on the issues she believed in, an art that has been fundamentally misplaced to the shameful sycophancy and brownnosing pretension and calculated doublespeak often seen in the corridors of power in Nigeria.
