18 Facts About Dora Akunyili

Dora Akunyili served on several State Government Boards and was named Supervisory Councilor for Agriculture in a Local Government unit in Anambra State.

Dora Akunyili worked as a hospital pharmacist in the university of Nigeria Teaching Hospital.

Dora Akunyili was appointed NAFDAC DG in 2001 and served till 2009.

Dora Akunyili had a special motivation for attacking the country's counterfeit drug problem and this is because, in 1988, she had watched her sister aged 21, die after being given injections of fake insulin as part of regular diabetes treatment.

Dora Akunyili put together a team of mostly female pharmacists and inspectors and started a war against counterfeit drugs that saw many open-air medicine markets across the country closed down.

Dora Akunyili's efforts led to increased public awareness about counterfeit drugs and more direct and purposeful surveillance at Nigerian customs.

On 26 December 2003, while Dora Akunyili was on the way to Anambra State in Eastern Nigeria, gunmen fired on her convoy.

In 2008, Dora Akunyili was appointed Minister of Information and Communications.

Dora Akunyili resigned her appointment as Minister of Information and Communications on 16 December 2010, after two years of service to run for office as senator representing Anambra Central in the National Assembly.

Dora Akunyili ran for election as Senator for Anambra Central for the APGA in April 2011 but was defeated by Chris Ngige of the ACN.

Dora Akunyili immediately sent a petition to the Independent National Electoral Commission disputing the result.

Dora Akunyili was a pharmacist and governmental administrator who gained international recognition and won several awards for her work in pharmacology, public health and human rights.

Dora Akunyili was married to Chike Akunyili, a medical doctor, and they had six children: Ijeoma, Edozie, Somto, Njideka, Chidiogo and Obumneme.

In 2017, one of her children, Njideka Akunyili Crosby was awarded the prestigious Genius Grant from the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation.

Dora Akunyili died at a specialist cancer hospital in India on 7 June 2014 after a two-year battle with uterine cancer.

Dora Akunyili was laid to rest at Agulu in Anambra State.

On 28 September 2021, her husband Chike Dora Akunyili was killed by gunmen at Nkpor, in the Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra on his way back from an event to honor his late wife at Sharon Hall, All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha, and organized by the University of Nigeria Nsukka Alumni Association.

Dora Akunyili received over 900 awards throughout her career, the highest number of awards ever received by any Nigerian.