Brave and brilliant, she fought for life and everything life meant. Death was not strange to her neither were threats to her life. Professor Dora Nkem Akunyili was to many a rare public-spirited individual that was undeterred by death threats and criticisms. Dogged, dutiful and dependable, Akunyili was the individual every Nigerian wanted to be at the helm of affairs of any of Nigeria’s problematic governmental institution.
Prof. Akunyili, an internationally renowned pharmacist, pharmacologist, erudite scholar and seasoned administrator, was born in Makurdi, Benue State on July 14, 1954.
Her educational career started with her passing the First School Leaving Certificate with Distinction in 1966 and the West African School Certificate with Grade I Distinction in 1973, which earned her the Eastern Nigerian Government’s post-primary scholarship and the Federal Government of Nigeria’s undergraduate scholarship, respectively. Dora Akunyili was always top of her class.
She got her B.Pharm (Hons) in 1978 and PhD in 1985, both at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. Akunyili won the Vice-Chancellor’s Postgraduate and Research Leadership prize in Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences for 1984/85 and 1985/86 academic sessions. She was promoted to the rank of Professor of Pharmacology in October, 2000 by the same university.
Prof. Akunyili started working as a hospital pharmacist in the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu in 1978. By 1981, she was a Graduate Assistant (Research Fellow) in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and became a senior lecturer in 1990.
In 1996, the former minister of information later became a consultant pharmacologist in the UNN’s College of Medicine. Between 1997 and 2000, the ex-NAFDAC boss was appointed zonal secretary of Petroleum Special Trust Fund, where she coordinated all projects in the five South-Eastern states of Nigeria.
Up till this time, Akunyili had lived a life of probity and industry.
When she was appointed the Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, Akunyili’s unbounded energy was released as she fought tooth and nail with Nigeria’s notorious cartels of fake drugs. She was later to become minister of information under the President Musa Yar’Adua. She also contested in the Anambra Central Senatorial election in 2011.
As a scientist and scholar, she presented over 600 papers, published four books and wrote scientific articles published in local and international journals.
She was conferred with the Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) award and recognised as an Icon of Hope for Nigerians by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
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