[size=14pt]This Dora, Our Dora, [/size]
Olurotimi Adeola
August 18, 2010

Professor Dora Akunyili recently clocked 57 and a couple of newspaper adverts were made to celebrate her person by friends and associates. This Amazon, who is a pride to womanhood any time and day, have continued to display very rare qualities of leadership, seen among very few privilege people in our African settings.

Though women are generally assumed to be the weakest of the two sexes, Mrs. Akunyili had demonstrated in so many instances that the assumption is subjective. She had tread on paths where so called brave men are too intimidated to even take a step. Her non-conformist approach to national issues have saved Nigeria and indeed Nigerians from some ugly chains of events that could have been unleashed on us. She is truly our nation’s mother figure.

Eleven years of our present democratic experiences, yet only Dora stands tall and unblemished amidst contemporaries be they male or female. She became visible on national scene with her exploits at NAFDAC. She brought life into the moribund commission and introduce new vigour and dedication in the staff, in battling marketers and manufacturers of fake and adulterated drugs. Despite the threats to her life, she rattled the cults of evil business men and women who were bent on killing innocent Nigerians for enormous profits.

Dora is an apostle of positive change; all her public service were tailored towards providing for the general good of all. She is an ideal persona when discussions on quality and responsive public service are on the front burner. Without sounding immodest, she represents the new Nigeria of our collective dreams.





This professor of Pharmacy, proved cynics wrong when she as an ‘insider’ in government during the prolong health saga of late president Umar Yar’adua, saw the looming dangers in our country not having a definite authority. While most of her colleagues in the then cabinet care less, as long as they are enjoying the spoils of their offices, she insists the constitution of the land must be obeyed. Her then colleagues, overwhelming suppressed the clamour by Nigerians for reasoning to prevail on the vex matter of transfer of authority to the then vice president. They were only mindful of losing their positions, not even thinking for a minute of the possible disintegration of the country by their inactions. Only Dora stood tall and firm on the side of the people.

Those who claimed her action as that time was belated, were only sarcastic with their tongues. First we must acknowledge she was at that time an appointee of the ailing president Yar’adua and that the gravity of Yar’adua’s health condition was unknown to her initially. As the information minister, she is expected to douse tension in the land, because the information available to her at that time was that her principal’s (President Yar’adua) condition was mild and that he would soon return. But the prolong absence of the then president and the scheming of a group, who were later known as the ‘cabal’, made it obvious that some cover ups were taking place. Dora, our Dora just wouldn’t live with the little she knew, unlike her other colleagues; to save Nigeria, she must do the impossible even at the risk of losing her seat in the cabinet and possibly her life. She came to the weekly federal executive council meeting with a memo, appealing to her colleagues to follow the path of honour. She was chastised, abused and threatened by her colleagues and their collaborators but she stood her grounds. That single patriotic act of hers eroded the confident of our chief tormentors and they were forced to ask the National Assembly to implement what was called the doctrine of necessity. Thereby saving the country from grave political quagmire.

Nobody is giving a thought to what could have happened to Dora, if president Yar’adua had survived. Can we for once imagine the vengeance these enemies of Nigeria could have unleash on her if their benefactor (President Yar’adua) recovered and reclaimed his office? This woman took a risk for Nigeria and Nigerians. That’s why I am really worried for Nigeria when I see charlatans who were mute during that period now coming out to aspire for the seat of president. If Nigeria was consumed by that logjam would there have been a country for them to aspire to rule?

Dora Akunyili is a classic example of leadership par excellence. She is the true reflection of a selfless and determined African woman, who gives her all to her family, society and nation. And as she marks another fulfilling year on earth, we must acknowledge who she is. Calling her the mother of modern Nigeria is one sure way to start.

Thank God for the gift of Professor Dora Akunyili to our nation at this perilous time of our country’s political history. While also thanking Dora for remaining steadfast for Nigeria and its people. I stand with you dear Professor (Mrs.) Dora Akunyili because you are a living legend and a shining example of positive and ideal leadership; and I know there are a million more who adore you and are forever grateful for your selfless service to our country. Happy Birthday Madam.

Olurotimi Adeola

rowiade@yahoo.com

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/olurotimi-adeola/this-dora-our-dora.html

where are the Dora bashers??

Oya ooo.
The floor is open

OMO IBO:

where are the Dora bashers??
Oya ooo.
The floor is open

Yes o. everybodi come inside. dem go soon show. dis na better market for dem.

^^^ What about you? Which camp do you belong?

Wishing the amazon many prosperous years ahead.    

Who will open the Dora bashing na?

jamace:

^^^ What about you? Which camp do you belong?

Wishing the amazon many prosperous years ahead.

I am a fulltime Dora Fan. I know she , like all of us has her flaws though.

I'm no fan of hers.

All the hundreds of millions of Naira consumed in her thoroughly inane 'Rebranding' campaign, all to naught.
When asked about her chief achievements as Information minister and the chief apostle of 'rebranding', what did your 'Amazon' say? Why, banning District 9 and forcing Sony to apologize.

Being a leader in Nigeria is such a good thing! Nigerians have very low expectations and are all too eager to celebrate the mundane.

Dora is the 1st female government official who bashed her bosses while  in office. A brave woman who made men look like wimps if you ask me.

I pity the writer of the message. The writer is cut frm the same sychophantic fabric as beaureucratic con artist dora . Dora fooled me once bt she cant again . For the records let it be known dora only betrayed the cabal after she got reliable info frm american intel that yar adua was beyond recovery . The scammerzon of a woman quickly played a quick one on gej and nig by blowing the whistle in a bid to guarantee a spot in jonathans new order . Dora is a scam that has being played on nig sailing on populist gender and ethnic sentiments.

texazzpete:

I'm no fan of hers.

All the hundreds of millions of Naira consumed in her thoroughly inane 'Rebranding' campaign, all to naught.
When asked about her chief achievements as Information minister and the chief apostle of 'rebranding', what did your 'Amazon' say? Why, banning District 9 and forcing Sony to apologize.

Being a leader in Nigeria is such a good thing! Nigerians have very low expectations and are all too eager to celebrate the mundane.

The US spends millions too on image making and the district 9 saga is justified if you were in position to defend Nigerias battered image. Will you have kept mum while Sony and movie directors bash us more?. Its not as if she has anything personal to gain from it apart from promoting her country's image. I hate it when people douse someone's achievement because they are desperate to bring his/her shortcomings to light.

Dora fought drug barons and thrice they tried to assassinate her in Nigeria and she survived it. Nobody will put her life on the line inclusing you for that sorry azz country. Her job too, she put on the line when the Northern oligarchy spearheaded by Turai were hiding the true state of yaradua's condition.

What if Yaradua survived, can you imagine what will have happened to her?. None of the men in govt, whether minister, governor, senator etc were courageous enough to speak out yet she did.  You guys do not see that only that she spent millions rebranding Nigeria.
Rebranding involves the media and if you have any idea of how much it costs, you will know that millions/billions of Naira will not cut it right. Unless you want her to desist from rebranding Nigeria and allow us to stay put with our bad image.

idupaul:

I pity the writer of the message. The writer is cut frm the same sychophantic fabric as beaureucratic con artist dora . Dora fooled me once bt she cant again . For the records let it be known dora only betrayed the cabal after she got reliable info frm american intel that yar adua was beyond recovery  . The scammerzon  of  a woman quickly played a quick one on gej and nig by blowing the whistle in a bid to guarantee a spot in jonathans new order . Dora is a scam that has being played on nig sailing on populist gender and ethnic sentiments.

Which American intel gave common Dora such information when AP, BBC, CNN, Fox were there to reap from such news and couldn't confirm it?. So of all the bigwigs in Nigeria, American intel chose to leak the secret to only DORA and that's why she took advantage of it?

Assuming your assertion is true, how sure is she that Jonathan will take over and rearrange Yaradua's cabinet knowing full well they belong to the same PDP crop?. How sure is she that the senate will approve her appointment knowing full well that many of them may be loyal to  once very powerful  Turai?.

So you are saying that every media house in Nigeria did not get this intel and all the politicians probably got it but were either not clever enough to take advantage of it or were cowardly thereby playing along with the cabal?

For your information: Not even the powerful cabal including Aondokaaaaaaaaa, knows the condition of Yaradua and I suspect that the pilot of the air ambulance who brought him back knew nothing about his state. Only Turai, the doctor and God know the exact time Yaradua died.

Happy birthday madam Dora.

ROFLMAO!!!

Nigerians oooo!!!

Kobojunkie:

ROFLMAO!!!

Nigerians oooo!!!

You must be one fun lady, you are always ROFLYAO!!!!

Aloy+Emeka:

Dora is the 1st female government official who bashed her bosses while  in office. A brave woman who made men look like wimps if you ask me.

na there dem go c u. . .brave ko bravo ni

This woman is an attention LovePeddler.
Unfortunately, not all of us can be fooled all the time.

@Mr Umbrella,
Calling someones mother a LovePeddler is very bad of you. You wouldn't enjoy it if the same is attributed to your mother, will you?

@ Alloy Emeka i said dora was privy to intel that aondakaa was unfortunate nt to have . As far as am concerned the only diff btw dora and aondakaa was access to privy info . They were both sycophants . Where was patriot dora when obt was seeking third term, why did she nt blow her patriotic whistle then, instead she joined the band wagon in saying obj was the messiah who needed more time to get a miracle right . When that failed she refused to blow her patriots whistle when yar adua was undemocratically forced on nigerian, instead she joined the the campaign train shouting yardie was the new messiah, even when as a medical person she saw the man was terminally ill . Dora is fraud lets see hw u defend you mamazon

Aloy+Emeka:

Dora is the 1st female government official who bashed her bosses while  in office. A brave woman who made men look like wimps if you ask me.

When did the bashing started?

Nigerian women need to stop with the heavy makeup.

Dora is a fraud and opportunist. You don't need any intel to see with your own eyes that Yarasick was gone. And she needs to rebrand her own family, Information minister not knowing how to come across to the public.

Yes safari man . She jsd de rebrand her purse

Aloy+Emeka:

The US spends millions too on image making and the district 9 saga is justified if you were in position to defend Nigerias battered image. Will you have kept mum while Sony and movie directors bash us more?. Its not as if she has anything personal to gain from it apart from promoting her country's image. I hate it when people douse someone's achievement because they are desperate to bring his/her shortcomings to light.

This has nothing to do with spending money on PR. She started this Rebranding campaign with much fanfare, even when it was clear that Nigerians were disillusioned with the idea from the beginning.
So after spending hundreds of millions on the campaign, all she can claim as an 'achievement' is pulling District 9 and forcing Sony to apologize. Is that what rebranding is all about? If that is what your expectation truly is, then you lot deserve your leaders.

Aloy+Emeka:


Dora fought drug barons and thrice they tried to assassinate her in Nigeria and she survived it. Nobody will put her life on the line inclusing you for that sorry azz country. Her job too, she put on the line when the Northern oligarchy spearheaded by Turai were hiding the true state of yaradua's condition.

She was doing her job as the head of NAFDAC. That is what she was paid for. This is the service we should expect from ALL our leaders/senior civil servants. Stop making it out as if she went far and above the call of duty. That didn't happen.

Aloy+Emeka:

The US spends millions too on image making and the district 9 saga is justified if you were in position to defend Nigerias battered image. Will you have kept mum while Sony and movie directors bash us more?. Its not as if she has anything personal to gain from it apart from promoting her country's image. I hate it when people douse someone's achievement because they are desperate to bring his/her shortcomings to light.

This has nothing to do with spending money on PR. She started this Rebranding campaign with much fanfare, even when it was clear that Nigerians were disillusioned with the idea from the beginning.
So after spending hundreds of millions on the campaign, all she can claim as an 'achievement' is pulling District 9 and forcing Sony to apologize. Is that what rebranding is all about? If that is what your expectation truly is, then you lot deserve your leaders.

Aloy+Emeka:

Nobody will put her life on the line inclusing you for that sorry azz country.

Now i feel sorry for you. Just because YOU won't doesn't mean other will not. Tens of thousands of Nigerian soldiers put their lives on the line for Nigeria in Liberia. Nigerian peacekeepers are hunkered down in Darfur even as we speak, putting their lives at risk for the sake of their country. Stop being so dramatic.

Aloy+Emeka:

What if Yaradua survived, can you imagine what will have happened to her?. None of the men in govt, whether minister, governor, senator etc were courageous enough to speak out yet she did.  

That had nothing to do with courage, more like saving her own skin. At that time, Dora's popularity had hit an all time low and she had to jump ship. It was clear to all that Yar'Adua wasn't coming back in one piece anymore. The only reason the others kept quiet was to continue stealing in peace.

Aloy+Emeka:

Rebranding involves the media and if you have any idea of how much it costs, you will know that millions/billions of Naira will not cut it right. Unless you want her to desist from rebranding Nigeria and allow us to stay put with our bad image.

Yes, we know how much it costs. Just like the Nigeria @ 50 website awarded to a shoddy Chicago based Nigerian company for well over 4 million Naira, a website so bland, so featureless that it would have been an insult to pay more than 1 million for it.
We also know that throwing money at the rebranding project is a waste of time and resources. Haven't you seen that the whole thing seems to have died a natural death?
Her campaign had absolutely NO EFFECT on our image. if it had, you think she won't have reported that instead of blabbing on about District 9 and Sony Playstation?

safariman:

Dora is a fraud and opportunist.  You don't need any intel to see with your own eyes that Yarasick was gone. And she needs to rebrand her own family, Information minister not knowing how to come across to the public.

Lol

idupaul:

Yes safari man  . She jsd de rebrand her purse

idupaul:

@ Alloy Emeka                     i said dora was privy to intel that aondakaa was unfortunate nt to have  . As far as am concerned the only diff btw dora and aondakaa  was access to privy info . They were both sycophants .                     Where was patriot dora when obt was seeking third term, why did she nt blow her patriotic whistle then, instead she joined the band wagon in saying obj was the messiah who needed more time to get a miracle right . When that failed she refused to blow her patriots whistle when yar adua was undemocratically forced on nigerian, instead she joined the the campaign  train shouting yardie was the new messiah, even when as a medical person she saw the man was terminally ill . Dora is fraud  lets see hw u defend you mamazon

Should someone's personal opinion be aligned with her achievements?. Her personal opinion was that OBJ should be given a third chance and it could be her personal conviction. Were there no Nl'ers who wanted OBJ for 3rd term or others who still praise him beyond imagination up till this day?.

Yaradua was installed by the PDP cabal and don't forget she is female and as such follow orders from either her husband or someone who exercise undue authority over her. Her latest action could have been a result of the implosion  that was due over years of abuse on her beloved nation.

The so called 'privy' information is still amazing to me how you got that info but assuming you are wired to the Nigerian or US intelligence, can you explain how poor Dora, a backyard minister and pharmacy professor emeritus of a backyard university beat BBC, CNN, Al Jazeeera, Fox, etc to that privy information?

^^^^
Go back and look at Yarasick's pictures and then come back and tell us that man was going to make it. She was in the cabinet having weekly meetings and didn't have a clue.

safariman:

Dora is a fraud and opportunist.  You don't need any intel to see with your own eyes that Yarasick was gone. And she needs to rebrand her own family, Information minister not knowing how to come across to the public.

And then thunder will faya your yansh when he eventually return to office after running your mouth that he is dead. You think it is easy to muster courage and face those people. You also think others have nothing to say when Turai was playing with everybody but they were scared of the consequences if Yaradua eventually come to office. I tell you that Dora would have spent her 57th birthday in EFCC jail had yaradua survived that illness. Even Ribadu who was touted as a fearless cop because of his numerous arrests under the EFCC, did he arrest any of Obasanjo's allies?. Should we destroy his resume because of that weakness hidden behind his bravery?

^^^^
If she did not speak up because of fear, then while all the accolades about how brave she is? She only spoke up when protesters including Soyinka already spoken up

It is mind boggling that some of us can no longer differentitate between personal, family, political and professional issues.

I have asked you Dora antagonists to point out exactly what she did wrong and where she went wrong.

If you choose to do this, I'll not be interested in any run-off-mill hackneyed tripe. Instead, kindly tally her job description to her achievements or rather her failure(s) as the Minister for Information.

Any taker(s)!

So everyone is now entitled to personal opinion. So why were u crying wolf when people like the cabal were jst expressing their personal opinion the king should die before we bury him . Alloy believe me the woman was privy to us intel which some of us knew when it came . Dora the grand con . The woman who conned a nation

safariman:

^^^^
If she did not speak up because of fear, then while all the accolades about how brave she is? She only spoke up when protesters including Soyinka already spoken up

The answer is simple! We are dealing with Nigeria where the majority still wear sun shades even in the dead of night. I mean you only need to look at the warm praises given Yar adua after his death -- some even argued the man was a SAINT and  THEY( we are likely never to know who the THEY/CABAL are because in our culture, it seems OK to believe in the OJUJU under the bed making us do what we do) made him do nothing in his 11 years as governor and then presient. Same argument for why the VP turned President did next to nothing both as deputy governor, governor, then VP and now president. Again, this is Nigeria, land where there is a high chance that your inaction/ineptitude gets you praises at the end of the day.  lol

idupaul:

I pity the writer of the message. The writer is cut frm the same sychophantic fabric as beaureucratic con artist dora . Dora fooled me once bt she cant again . For the records let it be known dora only betrayed the cabal after she got reliable info frm american intel that yar adua was beyond recovery . The scammerzon of a woman quickly played a quick one on gej and nig by blowing the whistle in a bid to guarantee a spot in jonathans new order . Dora is a scam that has being played on nig sailing on populist gender and ethnic sentiments.

I was one of those who saw her ''Cheap heroism, cheap Opportunism, Cheap betrayal, cheap attention seekerism, cheap media crazyism, cheap everything, FROM THE OUTSET,