Edozie Akunyili has bemoaned the sacrifices his mother made for Nigeria, questioning if they were worthwhile. His mother was the late Prof. Dora Akunyili, a former director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
The late Professor of Pharmacology was so preoccupied with her work at NAFDAC that she neglected to take care of her own health until it deteriorated, according to Edozie, who said his mother died in vain.
This was revealed by Edozie in response to conversations on the X platform (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, in response to outcry over the increasing amount of fake goods in Nigerian marketplaces and retail establishments.
An X user, Imohunoren, had written, “Since Dora Akunyili left us alone in this evil world, we’ve been eating and drinking fake products . That woman looked out for us for real. Top 5 Nigerian to ever exist.”
Responding, another user, kelvin_ig, said, “I can never forget when her house and office in Lagos was burned down on the same day. Obasanjo asked if she wanted to resign. She said Obj should dead that talk and reinforce her security. Obj did, and she carried on. 😭 she’s wild.”
Also, X user, Morris_Monye added, “Till date, no justice for her family over her attempted murder and her family.
“Her husband was killed. No Justice till now.
“She gave absolutely all for Nigeria. Yet the land has a way of taking her own.
“This is why I choose battles carefully. If you lose your life, Nigeria moves on.”
Responding to the tweets, the late Prof. Akunyili’s son Edozie wrote: “Exactly. Nobody has sacrificed more for Nigeria than our family and yet we constantly ask ourselves if it was worth it?
“We would give anything to have our parents with us but Naija moves on with corruption and impunity from the top down seen as normalcy.
“Sadly, she died because she was so engrossed in her work for NAFDAC that she delayed her fibroid hysterectomy for years, which later was found to be cancerous.
“When I see all the lies, corruption and dirty politics, it pains me that we lost our mother for nothing! Was it worth it?”
