It Was Easy For Mum To Pocket Lots Of Money At NAFDAC & No One Would Ever Know, But She Would Say, Even If No One Sees It, God Sees It – Late Dora Akunyili’s Daughter, Chidiogo

Chidiogo Akunyili-Parr is a daughter of the late former Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Dora Akunyili. She speaks to GODFREY GEORGE about her mother’s personality and core values as well as the recent passing of her surgeon father, Dr Chike Akunyili

Please tell us a bit about yourself and your work.

My name is Chidiogo Blessing Akunyili-Parr. Akunyili means ‘my cup overflows’. Chidiogo means ‘God is gracious’. My middle name is Blessing. So, my name in full means: God is gracious with blessings and my cup overflows. I am one of the six children of the late Dora Akunyili, a former Director-General of NAFDAC (National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control) and Minister of Information, and the late Dr Chike Akunyili.

I am an author, speaker, and consultant with a passion for human development and connection.

I attended Queens College, Yaba, Lagos. I left Nigeria after graduating in 2001 to study International Relations and French at the University of Pennsylvania, US. I studied in Paris at Sciences Po, where I majored in International Economics. I spent the years between undergrad and master’s working internationally in Germany, China and Italy. I got a master’s in International Development and Economics from SAIS John Hopkins. This was followed by working at the World Economic Forum managing the global shapers community across Africa and the Middle East. It was in this time that I received a master’s in Global Leadership with certificates from INSEAD, Columbia University, Wharton School, London Business School, China Europe International Business School and Cornell Tech.

Having lived and worked across five continents, I speak seven of the world’s languages – Chinese, English, French, German, Igbo, Italian and Spanish. I am a fellow at the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance, an Atlantic Dialogue Emerging Leader and an Associate Fellow of Nigerian Leadership Initiative.

I run an initiative, She ROARs, which supports women across the world, mostly women of colour, to connect to their intuition and purpose, and we do this via coaching sessions for women to get to know and trust themselves to delve more into their power. I am always drawn to supporting women with a trust in their potential to impact the world around them. I love to inspire women to be their best selves guided by the power of their own inner voices.

What was your experience growing up with your mother, the late Dora Akunyili?

Dora Akunyili was a mother to many more people than just us, her children. In many ways, who the country saw at the peak of her strength, starting with when she went to NAFDAC, was a woman we had experienced all through our lives as mummy. We had the privilege of so many wonderful years knowing her beauty, grace and mothering ability. At the same time, it was really beautiful to witness everybody getting to know her. She was very approachable; one who didn’t take any nonsense. She was very focused and clear on her values. She was clear on what she considered to be the right thing. She supported everyone around her to find the truth of this in themselves. I was and I’m still very proud of her achievements. Being her daughter was and continues to be a blessing. I hope that sharing her story creates ripples in the pond that will keep growing as others read and react to it. Her life and mission are being given renewed energy by its being told.

As a public office holder, it’s given that she would be quite busy. Did that, in any way, affect her role in the family?

She was busy. The work, including her dedication to NAFDAC, took all of her. I consider it lucky for us because we (her children) were a bit grown when she went into NAFDAC. This was especially as she dedicated so much of herself to it. I, for example, was in my last year of secondary school, so I was old enough to allow her to fly without feeling like I was losing her or feeling the strain of her absence.

It was good that she could have the time to focus on the work and this did not affect the relationship we had with her. It was a thing of pride and beauty to watch her blossom into the woman that she was, and to see how she stayed strong. At some point, she was even awarded ‘Man of the Year’.

She was loved because of the staunchness of her belief and her dedication to the work that was at hand; the belief that every life matters and that we have a responsibility to each other; and that supporting the well-being of one person is supporting the well-being of everyone. She lived her life by this, hence the title of her memoir: ‘I Am Because We Are’, capturing her belief and dedication to being her brothers’ and sisters’ keeper.

What lessons did you learn from her that has shaped you into the woman you have become?

This is a great question. Witnessing my mother’s life has been a lesson on knowing yourself and knowing what your beliefs are, and never compromising. She taught us to know and trust in the importance of the work we want to do, so we are not swayed by the wind. Even though the world may want you to compromise; even though they may have a different idea of how you should behave or who you should be, the list extends to bribery and corruption, it is important that you know yourself and know what matters. This is the truth of my mother’s lessons. She taught us to have deep trust in ourselves as God’s creation. She was very strong in knowing herself, and trusting the hand of God in her life and how God was guiding her in the work that she did. We have to trust that our work matters, no matter how small; and even if you think nobody will see the goodness or integrity of what we do. Think of the money she returned in London. It is important to do the right thing even if nobody sees it. It was very easy for her to have pocketed a lot of money at NAFDAC and nobody would ever know. They would still see her as a great woman who did a good job. But she would always say to us: “Even if no one saw it, God sees!” She was not interested in doing anything that went against who she was or against her God, which would, in turn, negatively impact the work that she did.

Source: Punch

Email: elora.akpotosevbe@yahoo.com