Chidiogo Akunyili-Parr, the daughter of the late ex-Minister
of Information and Communication, Dora Akunyili, said her mum foresaw that the
administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan would fail after he
announced candidates for his cabinet.
She quoted her mother to have described Jonathan’s
ministerial appointees as the cabinet of mismatched candidates, with square
pegs put in round roles.
This is contained in a biography of the former director general
of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control titled, ‘I
am because we are.’
In the 382-page book published by Safari Books Limited,
Akunyili’s sojourn as the NAFDAC DG, minister and senatorial candidate of the
All Progressives Grand Alliance was presented in the first person narration as
though she told the story herself.
The author, Akunyili-Parr, stated that upon Jonathan’s
election as President, her mother expected that she would be appointed as
Minister of Health given her experience and remarkable success at NAFDAC but
was asked to remain the Information and Communication minister.
She wrote, “I was not the only square peg in a round hole.
The announcement of his cabinet of mismatched candidates and portfolios was one
of the first signs of the woes that would cripple Goodluck Jonathan’s
government.
“The very talent for which he was chosen to be vice
president to (former President Umar) Yar’Adua was marring his presidency.
Nigeria needed a decisive leader who was willing to rock the boat as needed.
Instead, we got a quiet, slow-moving man with distaste for speed and a
preference for neutrality to the point of inaction.”
The author recalled that Akunyili, frustrated by Jonathan’s
decision and sensing an ominous failure of the administration, stepped down
from her position.
“I cited my official reason as being ready to begin a new
chapter of my life. Unofficially though, I wanted to have more authorship on
the direction of my journey, free from the whims of a seated president,” she
added.
The book also chronicled a series of attacks on Akunyili and
NAFDAC offices due to the war she waged against drug and food counterfeiting.
One of such was in March 2004, months after an assassination
attempt on the late ex-DG, when the Lagos operational headquarters of the
agency, described as the key artery of NAFDAC’s activities, was burnt down.
She said, “Everything was destroyed including office
equipment and sensitive files with data on registered products. Someone wanted to
cripple the agency and erase all its records.
“On March 10, 2004, barely 72 hours later, the laboratory
complex in Kaduna, which was critical for testing large quantities of medicine
and food, was set ablaze and also razed to ashes.
“The entire building, laboratory equipment, chemicals and
reagents, furniture and office equipment were destroyed by the fire. The
destruction was valued at about N228m, a colossal loss to NAFDAC and a setback
to our operations.”
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