In the hierarchy of the things which it has pleased a
lovely Providence to bequeath to His Universe, none
is as enduring and compellingly noble and attractive
as a great humanity.
For any society imbued even upon a modicum with a
correct sense of history, there is obviously something
deathless about the life and times of Prof. Dora Nkem
Akunyili, the late erstwhile Minister of Information
and National Orientation.
There are people, when they die, the encomiums that
trail their demise would seem a misnomer, anchored
only in the ancient admonition that one must not
speak ill of the dead. But in death, lies the awful
truth that Prof. Akunyili was indeed an uncommon
amazon, a woman of great worth who showcased the
acme of service in all her public enterprise.
It was therefore a frozen moment of reverential
spectacle and easy flowing empathy when the
Federal Executive Council paid sufficient tribute to
this national duenna of propriety. Nigeria has indeed
again lost a good and penetrating soul whose loud
courage and undeviating probity in the performance
of national assignments would for many years and
for many succeeding generations of her countrymen
and women remain indelible mementos of imitable
patriotism.
Prof. Akunyili’s odyssey from Better Life to the
Petroleum Trust Fund to National Agency for Food,
Drug Administration and Control to the Federal
Ministry of Information and National Orientation was
all the way laced with unequalled devotion and
excellence. She fought the monster of fake drugs
with so much passion and zeal that infected
Nigerians positively. If this admirable woman had
the powers of a God for just a moment she would
have converted, rebranded and transformed
Nigerians with the fire of her Good People, Great
Country slogan.
Today, Prof. Dora Akunyili is no more. We have
eulogized her in apt and befitting superlatives. Can
it ever be genuinely said of us in our homes and in
our persons, at that fine point when we lie hobbled
by the clutches of death that we ran the race of life
respectably and with dignity? Can it be said that in
our small positions and stations in life that we were
fair to all manner of people who crossed our path?
Can we truly represent symbols of justice and equity
to those we will be leaving behind? Can it be said of
us that we performed our national assignments
without fear or favour like Prof. Akunyili manifestly
did?
The death of this amiable Professor, exceptional
scholar and administrator has ignited in us a
moment of serious and sublime introspection of the
true meaning of life as we know it and obviously
what maze of irreversible emptiness it will be,
without positive service to humanity as exemplified
in Prof. Dora Akunyili.
Dora, died not because she was sick but because she
was alive and like Schneidman would remind us,
‘death is one thing you don’t have to do, it will be
done for you.’ It is therefore a platitude not worth
repeating that all men and women must die but in
dying they must first make their lives sublime and in
departing leave their footprints on the sands of time.
To the Akunyili family, the husband and children, if
the voice of the people is God’s voice then you had a
great wife and mother and we console you at this
moment of grief. To the Anambra state government,
our condolences, for doubtlessly the state has lost a
daughter of the rarest mould. To the Nigerian
government take heart for indeed the nation has lost
one of her finest walking, ubiquitous Public Relations
Officer.
To Prof. Dora Akunyili, peace to your loving memory.

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