Farewell to an amazon: Dora Akinyili finally buried in Anambra

After a weeklong ceremony that saw glowing tributes being paid, the final burial rites for Professor Dora Akunyili, former director-General of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC and Minister for Information ended today with her interment in Agulu, Anambra State.

On Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan led other dignitaries to pay their last respects during a requiem mass held in honour of the departed amazon at the Pro-Cathedral Catholic Church, Abuja.

After the service, Professor Akunyili’s remains were moved to Enugu for further obsequies; including a funeral mass at the KSJ Temple, Enugu.

The programme in Enugu was rounded off with a mass in her honour at the Holy Ghost Cathedral, Enugu before the departure of the body to Anambra, her home state.

The body was laid in state both at her father’s compound in Nanka and her husband’s home in Agulu, Anambra State.

PM News reports that Agulu has been tumultuous and carnival-like since the body arrived the village. The compound was so crowded that many visitors could not gain entrance into the premises.

At the Madonna Catholic Church, Agulu where the final funeral mass held, the presiding priest in a homily described the deceased as priceless, patriotic and exemplary.

“I can tell you that the death of Dora is marked by the community and Nigeria in general. She wrote her name in gold. And so, in death, she brought Nigerians together in grief,” the clergyman said.

Akunyi, 59 died in an Indian hospital on 7 June, this year after a battle with cancer. She was a university teacher, worked with the Petroleum Trust Fund and was appointed head of NAFDAC where she pioneered the restoration of sanity to Nigerian’s drug and consumable sector.

She was subsequently appointed Minister of Information by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, a position she held until she resigned to go into active politics.

She was a delegate to the just-concluded National Conference.

Source: PM NEWS