26th August, 2014
Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
Funeral rites for the late former Information Minister and Director General of National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Professor Dora Akunyili, continued on Tuesday morning in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, led other top government officials and dignitaries to bid the late Akunyili goodbye at a church service in Abuja.
The dignitaries with members of family of the deceased accompanied the remains of Akunyili to Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro-Cathedral Catholic Church, Garki, Abuja, for a requiem mass.
The mass was also attended by former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, elderstatesman, Chief Edwin Clark and former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi.
It was officiated by the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, His Eminence, Cardinal John Onaiyekan.
In his tribute to the deceased, President Jonathan said he first met Dora when he was deputy governor of Bayelsa State.
He described her as a role model for Nigerian women.
According to him, Dora was one of the few Nigerians that made the country proud.
The President recalled that before her appointment as the DG of NAFDAC, many Nigerians, including university graduates, were not even aware about the functions or the existence of the agency.
“She was able to protect the lives of many Nigerians through her job in NAFDAC,” noted the president.
He also noted that even as a minister, Dora was forthright, diligent and had passion for the country.
“She could say anything based on her convictions, regardless of whether she was right or wrong,” Jonathan added.
The husband of the deceased, Dr. Chike Akunyili, also recalled how his late wife chose the Nigerian passport over the American passport when she won the Visa lottery.
This, he said, was in demonstration of her love for the country.
He recalled that the late NAFDAC DG also demonstrated her passion for the country when she decided to participate in the National Conference in spite of her failing health.
Chike said the late Dora remained humble as a housewife despite her attainments as a public officer.
Earlier, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, had in his message described Dora as somebody who did simple things in extraordinary ways.
He added that the late minister had demonstrated that public life could be noble while she left a legacy that her family should be proud of.
Dora’s remains would leave Abuja for Enugu Tuesday afternoon where there would be another mass at KSJ Temple.
She died from cancer in India on 7 June at the age of 59 and would be buried in Anambra State on Thursday.