Dora Akunyili – An Exceptional Leader Worth Remembering

By The Association for Credible Leadership in Nigeria (ACLN)

The saying: “Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader; they only set out to make a difference”, is apt in describing only few Nigerians likelate Dora Nkem Akuyili (OFR), former Director General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

*Dora Akunyili

It is another June 7th marking the second year of your glorious departure from planet earth, thus the Association of Credible Leadership in Nigeria (ACLN) acknowledges her struggles and numerous achievements targeted at repositioning Nigeria. Born in Makurdi, Benue State, Akuyili started her educational career with a distinction in her First School Leaving Certificate at St. Patrick’s Primary School, Isuofia, Anambra State in 1966, and the West African School Certificate (WASC) with Grade I Distinction in 1973 from Queen of the Rosary Secondary School, Nsukka, Nigeria.

All through her career from school days up till the professional level, there have been traces of exceptional leadership characters, many of which were eventually seen by a larger population of Nigerians when she became the DG of NAFDAC in April 2001. For Dora Akuyili, everything she found herself doing was more than the ROLE, but about the GOAL to achieve.

She was Nigeria’s Honourable Minister of Information and Communications until December 16, 2010, when she resigned to further actualise her ambition of becoming the Senator representing Anambra Central in the National Assembly. She is an internationally renowned Pharmacist, Pharmacologist, Erudite Scholar, Seasoned Administrator, and a visionary leader. She has gained international recognition and won hundreds of awards for her work in pharmacology, public health and human rights.

That being said, one would have thought her brilliance and impressive leadership lifestyle would flicker with the pressure from workplace. Instead, Akunyili prepared herself for the administrative position at NAFDAC by her four years stretch as Zonal Secretary of Petroleum Special Trust Fund (PTF), coordinating all projects in the five south-eastern states of Nigeria (Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States). Recall that while serving at PTF under President Muhammadu Buhari, she took ill and was given a scary diagnosis in a medical facility in Nigeria which necessitated her going to the United Kingdom for treatment.