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Dora Akunyili

47 quotes

“The founding fathers of Nigeria had a dream of building a united, prosperous, and developed nation-state where social justice reigns. We also have to continue to dream because once we stopped dreaming then life is gone.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Women tend to be less corrupt and more focused. There are many more great women leaders out there who need to be given a chance.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you have a big sister like me, your problem will never be cash but how to spend your money.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am convinced that Nigeria should remain as one nation after 100 years despite her challenges because our common values overwhelm our differences.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nigerians have for long clamoured for an opportunity such as this to discuss our problems and come up with solutions that will strengthen the bond of our nationhood. I regard this national conference as President Jonathan’s best centenary gift to Nigerians, and a proof that he is a listening president.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mr. President’s speech oozes humility, modesty, patriotism and a deep concern for the present and future of this beautiful country, Nigeria. Mr. President in that speech admitted that sovereignty belongs to the people. And those in authority are only holding power on trust for the people and of course that nobody has monopoly of knowledge. Hence, the decision for convening this conference. One thing that stands out from Mr. President’s speech is that there is no trace of negativism.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For instance, he made it clear that Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable and our duty at this conference is to discuss ways to build a stronger and better Nigeria and I totally agree with him.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Apart from our long history of togetherness, we’ve also enjoyed many decades of inter-marriages and mutual co-existence. We have to make sure that this conference delivers on the true spirit of Mr. President’s speech.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“While we discuss the value of unity as written in his speech, we must realise that millions of Nigerians are being discriminated against in various parts of this country where they are born; where their forefathers lived; based on the so-called state of origin.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The founding fathers of Nigeria had a dream of building a united, prosperous, and developed nation state where social justice reigns. We also have to continue to dream because once we stopped dreaming then life is gone. In conclusion, I am convinced that Nigeria will work and fulfil its destiny.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I therefore look forward to collaborating with other delegates to chart the way for a better a new Nigeria. We all want to see a positive transform Nigeria and I therefore urge all of us to work individually and collectively so as to set the right agenda for the Nigeria of our dream.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates, I leave you with the words of these Greek proverb “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The best man for the job is a woman.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An unpredictable consumer drug market is a form of public health terrorism: Nigerian patients on prescription medications cannot rely on drugs purchased from pharmacies, and legitimate multinational drug manufacturers have struggled in Nigerian markets because they are unable to sell quality products in a market infiltrated by inferior drugs. These inferior drugs include expired or uncertified drugs; drugs with very little or no active ingredients; and drugs sold to the general public without contact information printed on the label.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tufiakwa! Not at all. The Dora brand is still the gold standard. It is as solid as coke. No shaking. My enemies can concoct stories about me but none of their evil stories will stick on me. God forbid! (She signs herself and mutters the Hail Mary).”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Who told you that Gov. Obi brought the money used to buy them? They were all bought by my brother, Anayo. Gov. Obi knows only his pocket. He won’t even give anything to Catholic priests who received and transmitted the message that he was the pope’s candidate last year. The man is just a miser.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But being a miser does not mean he is using government funds well. He is not a miser when it comes to stuffing the funds in his pocket. The first time you meet Gov. Obi he swears to you in that innocent voice of his: “If I steal a kobo of government fund, may God punish me and my children.” Like most people, I believed him. Then, right there in your face, he goes on to stuff his pocket. He is such a fake.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes. That’s my very dear brother in whom I’m very pleased. He was suffering as a teacher at a community college in Virginia when I advised him to come back home. I told him that the miserable life of a teacher was not his divine portion. He listened to me and came back home. He started Solid Base Contractors LTD. When you have a big sister like me, your problem will never be cash but how to spend your money. I hooked him up and the rest is history.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We set up the Foundation in memory of our parents. For something like that, you just have to pick people you trust. You don’t want the wrong people to come in and mess things up.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Gen. Sani Abacha heard all these great stories about the good work I was doing at UNN and in Anambra State and he picked me. That’s the honest truth, before God and man. It was purely on merit. Don’t listen to what my enemies are saying.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The most serious challenge was corruption and conflict of interest.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The worst civilian regime is better than the best military regime because no matter how much we talk about these electoral flaws and vote-rigging, rigging is possible when people allow it. When candidates are very popular, rigging does not work because you see people risking their lives to protect their votes.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We cannot be honest if we come out and say that all politicians are good or that all military people are bad. While we have honest politicians, we also have those who are performing below expectations, whose behaviour is not what we expect of them. It’s like that in all countries.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When it comes to what the politicians are doing and what the military did when they were in power, I can tell you that the politicians are doing more work because the politicians, no matter what anybody says about our elections (which I’m not now saying are perfect), still want to impress the people so that they can get back to power.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Civilian government is better.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Re-branding Nigeria is critical and fundamental to our achieving Vision 2020, because if we remain the way we are today, we will not make it.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have not even been able to define ourselves to the world. Most of the time people define us to the world the way they want it. We have not strategically used any platform in the past to tell the world those positive things that Nigeria has been doing and is still doing. Or to tell the world what we have here in Nigeria, or generally positive stories about Nigeria that can command an international audience and responsibly manage our negatives. All these things we are going to do under the re-branding platform.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If we listen to people who say “Nigerians are criminals, they are fraudsters, they are 419ers, in that country nothing works, in the internet Nigeria is unsafe”, if we say nothing, it means that we have accepted it. And for too long we have accepted that stigma. Through the re-branding project, we are saying that we can no longer continue to wear that label of criminals because we are not all criminals. Most Nigerians are good people. Nigerians are hard-working, resourceful and hospitable to a fault. All over the world, Nigerians have excelled in their various areas of endeavour.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nigeria of the future will be brighter. Why not? The Nigeria of today is more developed, despite all the challenges, than Nigeria of ten years ago. The Nigeria of ten years to come will be much more developed than the Nigeria of today. Not just in the area of infrastructure, but in all areas.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I returned the money to General (Muhammadu) Buhari, a former Nigerian head of state who was the chief executive of PTF, he wrote on the letter: “I did not know there were still some Nigerians with integrity.” He said I should return the money to the finance man, and I did. Just before PTF wound up, a friend of (Olusegun) Obasanjo—another former head of state, who had just been elected Nigeria’s new President—came to visit his kinsman, who was my friend. When he visited General Buhari, before coming to see the kinsman, he was told about how I returned 12,000 pounds.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So, when I went to the man’s office some months later, my friend said, “Deddeh, this is the lady who returned the money.” He said, “Yes, I’m just coming from General Buhari’s office. You returned 12,000 pounds; why did you return it?”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For me, it was not a big deal. I said I returned it because it is not my money. I cannot take money that is not my own, even though people felt I should not return it. But I felt strongly to return it and so I returned it. He said, “Are you a pharmacist?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “What happened?” I told him the story. He said, “My friend is looking for somebody to sanitize NAFDAC.” NAFDAC was not a big name. I heard about it vaguely, but it was not a place I would apply to work because it was not a popular place.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The most serious challenge was corruption and conflict of interest. Before I came into NAFDAC, the counterfeiters were paying their way to bring in whatever they wanted to bring in. I came in and said no, it would not happen again.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fact that most drug counterfeiters come from my place was also a very big issue. At a stage they carried that propaganda, that I was fighting my people. I was convinced that it was not a matter of tribe or religion or my people. It was a matter of telling people, stopping people from circulating poison in the system.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We also had the challenge of very poor laws. The laws were very non-deterrent. When people were convicted, the penalty was between 10,000 and 500,000 Naira, or three months to five years imprisonment. Everyone knows that 500,000 Naira to a major drug counterfeiter is like one dollar to you or I, to you and me.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Another serious challenge is sophistication in drug manufacturing—clandestine drug manufacturing, such that it is difficult to tell the difference between counterfeit and genuine. These counterfeiters actually use all of their technology in making sure that the copy is perfect, even though the drug may not contain anything.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We also have a serious challenge with non-corporation, non-governmental agencies in the ports. We had that problem and that struggling, making sure we did the right thing, and all of this was actually working against us. It was tough.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We created so much awareness. Even in the villages, people have to call people who went to school—they call people who are literate to read labels for them before they buy any drug or take any drug, or any food, or whatever consumables, because they know the necessity that it has a NAFDAC number. This is a number that authenticates that this drug is certified by NAFDAC. They ask people to check the NAFDAC number, check the expiry date, and the awareness is now a part of the fight.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nigeria became the first developing country to achieve universal salt iodization. This iodization is critical for childhood survival. We also worked in the area of Vitamin A fortification of food, fluoridation of toothpaste and standardization of cosmetics. We worked aggressively to stop the use of toxic bromate in bread production, among many other food issues.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you work, people watch. If they trust you, especially Nigerians, they follow and support you. The support of the people went side by side with the support of government.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Public support was built through establishing trust and confidence, both from the people and from government. It continued to widen because as years went by, it was clear to everybody that our activities were not a fluke but genuine. They were seeing results: less people were dying in hospitals, doctors were speaking up, pharmacies and drug manufacturers were rejoicing and are now seeing their profits in newspapers. These all contributed to build public confidence.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An institution assumes the character of its leadership. Responsible and honest leadership is critical to the survival of any establishment or institution. An institution assumes the character of the leader. If the leader is honest, the people are bound to follow suit most of the time. But once the leader is dishonest, the system gets destroyed.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, my only regret was going to Anambra State to partner with Gov. Peter Obi. You see, when you’re away from home and you depend on the newspapers for your stories, you’re setting yourself up to be fooled. I thought Gov. Obi was a good Catholic because I heard that the Pope endorsed him in last year’s gubernatorial election – and that God then ratified. In fact, I believed he was almost a holy man. Then I got to Anambra State and saw that he was a hypocrite. He carries around the rosary but he is just another crooked politician. The man is a creation of the media. He has a group of media men cleaning his image. The one that really shocked me was my discovery that he is not even popular in Anambra state. I could not believe it. If I had known, I would have remained in PDP and run for the senate seat under PDP. I would have won the election hands down. I was fooled by Peter Obi. He is surrounded by sycophants who won’t tell him a single truth. They deceive him by calling him “Okwute,” Rock of Ages. Meanwhile, he is just a mound of dust. Uche Ekwunife did the right thing – she did not allow Obi anywhere near her campaign. She kept her distance. She knew Obi was toxic. I did not know that. The man lives a fictional life. He is just a fraud sold to the public as a man with a great narrative.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was Zonal Secretary of Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF). It is a trust fund that is given a percentage of Nigeria’s oil revenue to be used in providing infrastructural facilities for the entire country. I was in charge of the southeast. I had a strange ailment then and was asked to go to Britain for treatment. I was supposed to have surgery, but it was a wrong diagnosis here in Nigeria. I went with 17,000 pounds: 12,000 for surgery, 5,000 for treatment, tests and others. In the end, it was found that I did not need surgery. So, I asked the hospital to give me the 12,000 pounds, which I had already paid. They were surprised that I wanted to return the money to my employers.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I came to the place I’d never been into—regulation. I came from the university. I was a pharmacist. Regulation is not taught in any pharmacy school. I was keen to succeed. I was desperate to succeed. I, therefore, hit the ground running right from the first day. By the grace of God, by the time I left, the counterfeiters were on the run, so much so that they even started running towards other West African countries. And I pursued them to those places, because they were living in Nigeria and going to establish there. I called other West African food and drug regulators and put in place WADRAN, West Africa Drug Regulatory Authority Network as a platform for interacting with our brothers and sisters in the sub-region—so as to make the environment hostile for them in other countries, and so that they will not find a place to re-group and re-invade us, because drug counterfeiting is actually an invasion.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We had about 70% of drugs in circulation as fake and counterfeit. Of course, people were dying. We had lots of treatment failures and resistance to antibiotics and anti-malarials. As people were dying, legitimate businesses were collapsing. Multinationals left this country out of frustration. By the time we gave them a fight for one, two, three years, by the time we actually consolidated, because they already saw that the game was up, the level of incidence of fake drugs came down to 16.7% as shown by a study conducted by WHO and DFID. People were dying less, our doctors were happy in hospitals, and the general atmosphere changed.”
Dora Akunyili (1954–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source