Dora Akunyili
Dora Akunyili was a Pharmacist, Professor and the former Director-General at National Agency for Food and Drug Administration, and Control (NAFDAC), read her exclusive biography here…
Quick Facts About Akunyuli
Born: 14 July 1954, Agulu
Died: 7 June 2014, India
Spouse: J.C. Akunyili
Children: Three (3) – Ijeoma, Njideka, Edozie Akunyili
Education: University of Nigeria, UNN Nsukka (1985)
Books: The War Against Counterfeit Medicine: My Story
The Hard Years of Childhood
As a child, my father doted on me. I recall the preferential treatment I received over my siblings. It was, to a large extent, due to my academic performances. Even when my mother complained about him spoiling me, he would usually reply that my brain would earn me an abundance of cooks and domestic staff to handle whatever household chores I would have. Eventually, my mother conspired with some of our close relations and at the age of 10, I was relocated to the village of Isuofia to live with my maternal grandmother and uncle. My father gave in because he believed growing up with his uncle, a teacher, would afford me a good training.
My life in the village forms a very important part of my memory of childhood. It toughened me. Though my father was prosperous in his leather business at Makurdi where he lived with my mum and siblings, I had to go through the rigours of village life. In my primary school days, my normal school day started at 4 or 5 AM with going to the stream. The stream was a distance of about three miles inside a gully erosion. After that, I went to weed in the farm, returned home at about 6 AM, swept the compound, swept my grandmother’s small bungalow, warmed the cassava fufu (akpu) that was left over the previous night, ate, and washed my face, hands and legs, as there was never enough water for every morning bath. I would trek for about a mile to school, and if I got to school a minute after eight, my teacher who never cared what I went through before getting to school would flog me mercilessly. Sometimes, I would be feeling very sleepy in the class, especially when I needed to get up as early as 4 AM for the stream. There was no snack for break.
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My parents were sending money and food to ensure that I was comfortable, but in a typical village setting in the early 60s, it was regarded as spoiling a child. At two o’clock, school would dismiss and I would trek back home, cook yam and eat it with oil or vegetable during vegetable seasons. Rice was only eaten on Sunday afternoons as a big treat. Immediately after eating, I would go out to look for firewood and whenever we had enough firewood, which was hardly the case, I would rest for a while. But my grandmother regarded any form of rest as laziness. I have no regret about the hardship I went through because it trained me to be strong, resilient and to be able to adapt to any situation. As soon as the sun went down, we would go to the farm and either weed, plant or harvest, depending on the season. We would leave the farm at sunset. On getting home, we would either make soup or warm an old soup and cook akpu for dinner. After dinner, I would do all the cleaning up and do my homework on a rickety table with a smoky lantern, after which I would go to sleep on a mat placed on a cement floor. My parents actually sent a camp bed to ensure that I was comfortable, but the driver that brought it never explained to us what it was because it was folded. As such, it was never used till I caught severe pneumonia, which nearly took my life.
There was poor access to doctors and health care facilities in the village. I was rushed to Adazi Hospital near Isuofia village in Anambra State where I remained on admission for several weeks. It was through divine intervention that my life was saved. It was after the illness that we were told that the folded item was a camp bed. Somebody was sent from Makurdi to set the bed for me. That was how I started part of my stay in the village. It was unheard of that a child rebelled against his or her parents. Rather, he or she would cry as a way of reacting against anything that was considered unfair. When one got tired of crying, one slept.
My Kind of Person
I started my primary school education at the Holy Ghost Primary School, Markudi. It was a cosmopolitan school. There were kids from various ethnic backgrounds. I earned my teachers attention because of my outstanding academic performance. But I wasn’t to complete primary studies there because I relocated to Isuofia. I was enrolled in St. Patrick’s Primary School where I finished with distinction and got the Eastern Nigeria Governments’ post primary scholarship. The civil war disrupted secondary school education in 1967. I was at the Queen of the Rosary Secondary School. We resumed in 1970 and I graduated in 1973 with straight ‘A’s. I had a hard time deciding which course to study in the University. As a science student, Chemistry and Mathematics were my favourite subjects. But in those days, it was popular for a science student to read Medicine. So being the best student in my class after the first year at the University, I was to have gone in for Medicine.
When I reported at the medical school, I was told that admission had closed. Maybe it was sheer providence. The Dean of the Medical School then, Professor Udekun, had promised to see what could be done to ensure I never went back. I longed for a course that would challenge me mentally. So, I decided for pharmacy. I did my first degree and Ph.D in the course. There is something I learned over the years about intelligent students. It never occurred to me I was doing what someone else could not do because if I got 75%, I would tell myself it could have been 85%. After exams, I would cry and criticize my efforts when I remembered a number I didn’t answer thoroughly. I always felt I could do better. I’ve always loved my books for as long as I can remember. When I lost my father, it gave me greater impetus to face my studies. I paid no attention to looks and beauty, as most of my age mates were doing. I only started using powder and lipstick after my graduation from the University. When I was in the secondary school, I only used pomade. If there was anything I cared for, it was neatness, but being a fashion freak was out of the question for me. Even long after marriage, it took me a while to get used to making up. I guess it was just my kind of person. I trust in God and devote myself to hard work. These are the things that keep me going. I do not have a substitute for seriousness.
In any job I embark upon, I put in my best. It does not matter if I am doing a job that exposes me to the public’s eyes or a job where nobody sees me. I believe in being a woman of integrity. This explains why I didn’t consider it a big deal to return the money I didn’t spend to the government, after my tenure of office with the PTF. What should make headlines is the lack of transparency and honesty in public positions. When a former Military Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari commended me, I told myself that I was just being myself. Carting away what does not belong to me would give me sleepless nights. These are the principles I’ve always worked with and they have their rewards.
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Going Up the Ladder
My first working experience was at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital. I worked there as a hospital pharmacist. After my postgraduate studies, I was employed as a university lecturer and rose to the post of a senior lecturer. In 1992, I was transferred to the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria (UNN) where I was made a consultant pharmacologist in 1996. I worked in my local government as a supervisor for agriculture and as a member of the caretaker committee from 1994 to 1996. I was also a member of the State Hospitals Management Board and State Advisory Council for Women’s Commission, both in Anambra State. I was appointed the Zonal Secretary of the Petroleum Special Trust Fund in 1996 where I coordinated all projects in the five South-eastern states: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo. I went back to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, dusted my books, cleaned my office and started teaching again. I love the academic environment and the university affords me one. My administrative work gave my body a hard suck at first. It is unlike the peace and relaxation the academic world gives one. But I got used to it.
In 2001, I was appointed by President Olusegun Obasanjo to head the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration, and Control (NAFDAC). I’m a member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria and have served in various capacities, notably as the National Vice-President of the Association of Lady Pharmacists (1992-1995) and President of the Enugu State Branch from 1992-1998. I’ve published two books and thirty journal articles. I was a part-time lecturer of the West Africa Postgraduate College of Pharmacists from 1992-1995. I am a member of learned societies, among which are New York Academy of Sciences, Nigerian Society for Pharmacology, International Pharmaceutical Federation, to mention a few.
As Boss at NAFDAC
When I came to NAFDAC, the working environment was initially difficult for me. Prior to my assumption of duty, food and drug regulation was chaotic. But it did not take me much time to adjust to my responsibility. The administrative experience I’d had in the past helped me tremendously. I knew all the intricacies of the job. It was challenging because I combined university work with it. It was because I love teaching. I never wanted to lose touch with the university. The major challenges we face in NAFDAC include conflict of interests, false declaration of goods at the ports, falsification of or transaction of fake drug (manufacture), and so on. To combat these corrupt practices, we started from our shores. NAFDAC staff are made to know the consequences of being caught in any corrupt practice, so most of them won’t venture into it.
I brought in this culture of excellence and honesty to NAFDAC because if we must achieve any thing meaningful out there, we must be honest ourselves. We are not relenting in our efforts to eradicate fake, counterfeit and substandard products in Nigeria. There are threats of physical harm, abusive telephone calls, hate mails, mysterious items and live animals like tortoise placed in my office to get me discouraged. But as a strong catholic, I believe God controls everything that happens. Besides, the death of my sister, Vivian, a diabetic patient, as a result of fake insulin injections motivates me to carry on with what I am doing. I am not alone.
There are many Nigerians out there who are working hard. They do things properly in order to make the country a great place. It is just that we have what I call ‘the effective minority’, the spoilers who want to keep the country in perpetual corruption. I am not deterred because I honestly do not mind dying for a good cause. While I am alive and at this job, I must do things right. This helps me bounce back every time I’m faced with an obstacle. I believe not forging ahead is accepting defeat. There are those who try to put down what we are doing here, but that does not bother me because it is God who causes one’s work to be appreciated. It is not by reason of one’s hardwork that one is appreciated. I try as much as possible to carry my staff along and earn their respect. That way, they too are committed.
The success we’ve recorded is beyond my wildest imagination. For instance, if someone had told me that we would move into an office like this from a rented two flats accommodation, I would have been tempted to say he was exaggerating. It is God’s doing. Nothing has changed. It’s only that I’m getting more grey hair as I advance in age. Women are more humble and honest than men in regulatory work. They are generally not greedy. However, this is not to say that women are not corrupt. Thank God for the Obasanjo administration where, if a man and a woman with the same qualifications are presented for a job, the president would normally take the woman for the job. So women are having a level playing ground with the men now. I have never been discriminated against because of my sex. It could be because I always loved to compete with men. Where there isn’t any opposite sex, I feel there isn’t any real competition.
In the part of the country where I come from, the aspect of our tradition which discriminates against women is the inheritance right. But that is dying gradually because as people are becoming more enlightened, they write their will and in it, both their male and female children have access to their property. I seize any opportunity I have when I attend women conferences to say the woman has no reason to put herself down. She must work hard if she is to build her self-confidence. Helping widows is of particular interest to me.
A Close Relationship
Marriage is more enjoyable when there is a close relationship between the couple. It is a bit difficult to achieve this closeness in the early years of marriage, especially if the couples are in their early twenties. Many wives encounter problem in the early years of marriage. They start to make effort to change their spouse into an ideal person. Nothing can be more frustrating. The older the partners get, the more they appreciate each other. As they have their children and grow together, they learn to appreciate each other’s weaknesses and exploit their strengths. I am closer to my husband than I was in the earlier years. It’s only natural, when one considers the fact that we have totally different family backgrounds. If a couple stick to each other in the first five to ten years of their married life, the chances of a separation is minimal. This is because one would have, in the early years, flaws and weaknesses.
These would not be any big deal anymore. I married in my early twenties and in my third year in the university. How we used to be on each other’s nerves then! Couples must stop wishing for 100% compatibility. It doesn’t exist. Also, it’s no use thinking one could learn everything about an individual during the period of courtship. If, for instance, one courts someone for five to nine years, and there is a breaking of the relationship, does one go into courtship with someone else for another five years? How old would one be if one finally meets the one who meets all one’s expectations? It is unrealistic, to say the least. I believe this is where intelligent parents who are close to their children make a difference. Once a child has sufficient reason to like an individual, and to want to have him or her as a marriage partner, the child should be encouraged to go ahead.
One should marry someone one respects. Respect transcends love. How does one love a person one does not respect? If one respects her/his betrothed, love is bound to grow out of that relationship. Having a successful marriage takes a lot of hard work. We are all imperfect individuals, not just as a result of gender but other environmental factors that are at play. Being a mother transcends mothering one’s biological children. It includes other children as well. Motherhood is a wonderful experience. It gives a lot of insight into human behaviour. One endures so much just to ensure one’s children are properly raised and are doing well as they create a niche for themselves I still worry over my married daughter. But it can be a harrowing experience if one has a badly behaved child. Parents have to pay very good attention to their children right from infancy.
When a child is trained with good values, he or she grows with it. Some parents abandon their children, and expect that the children would be useful. It is not possible. No matter a mother’s secular involvements, she must create time for her children so that they truly become hers. My kids are my friends. They are free to ask me all sorts of questions, ‘Mummy, when did you have your first kiss?’ etc. They are free with me because we find time to discuss things together. There is nothing more important than to have good communication with one’s children.
Aging Gracefully!
I love cooking, but there is no time to do that now. I like rice and spaghetti. I use to love Semovita too. Generally, I have reduced my food intake because one is getting older. I do not have any hobbies but I do a little exercise every morning. I want to be remembered as someone who was able, with the NAFDAC team, to eradicate fake drugs in Nigeria to the barest minimum. I want to be able to look back and see that I’ve helped my children to be where God wants them to be, while aging gracefully with my husband.
