UNN holds last college assembly for Akunyili

The College of Medicine at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka on Wednesday held its last college assembly in honour of the late Prof. Dora Akunyili, who was once its lecturer.
The assembly, which held at the Ituku/Ozalla campus of the institution in Enugu State, was attended by many emeritus and serving professors of the college as well as the staff of the university’s teaching hospital.
Speaking on the occasion, the Provost of the college, Prof. Ernest Onwuasigwe, said Akunyili’s death was a loss to pharmacology, the university and the country as a whole.
Onwuasigwe said the former Minister of Information left legacies in the college, which students who did not meet her in person still enjoyed.
Also speaking, a member of the college, Prof. Paul Okonkwo, said that apart from her life in public offices, the late Akunyili was an accomplished scientist and pharmacologist.
Okonkwo said she had between 20 and 30 publications in journals and co-authored at least two books while working in the college.
Reacting to the encomiums on the late professor, her husband, Dr. Chike Akunyili, recalled how he met her at the pharmacy in the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, saying she instantly warned herself to him in spite of the general lukewarm attitude of pharmacists.
Dr. Akunyili called on health workers generally to change their attitude to patients, while also calling on managers to be good to their workers to get the best in them.
The highlight of the occasion was the roll call of the college assembly, during which the late Akunyili was called three times to show that she was gone.
In a related development, the Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese in Enugu State, Most Rev. Godfrey Onah, has described the late Akunyili as a challenge to all Nigerians.
Speaking during a requiem mass in honour of the deceased at the Holy Ghost Cathedral, Enugu on Wednesday, Onah said Akunyili was “one who made a difference in the sea of corruption in Nigeria” and praised her for her brevity.
He encouraged all Nigerians to emulate the character of the deceased to make a remarkable difference in the country.
He said: “While people may be singing the praises of Dora and hailing her as a heroine, I will rather want to point that she is a challenge to all of us.
“She was committed to making a difference as a Christian, not minding the discouragement she got from people about the corruption in our country.
“What we are doing today is much more than paying tribute.
“It is an expression of her faith, which she shared and is still sharing even in death.”
The bishop called on Christians to live as those who believed in resurrection so as not to lose the greatest gift of God.
In his vote of thanks, Dr. Akunyili appreciated all those that attended the mass to pay his late wife last respect.
Akunyili described his late wife as a light to the nation and a practising Christian.
“Wherever we find ourselves, let’s try and be little Dora, let us have courage to say the truth at all times to enthrone a better society,” Akunyili said.
He donated N1 million to the Enugu Catholic Diocese for the training of seminarians in honour of his late wife, whom he said loved making seminarians realise their goal of becoming priests.
Among those who attended the mass were former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme; former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo; the Secretary to Anambra State Government, Oseloka Obaze; and the Enugu State Commissioner for Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Dr. Jude Akubilo.