five beautiful things you must know about naijagal extraordinaire Prof Dora Akunyilli!!

Dr Chike Akunyili, husband to late Prof. Dora Akunyili, yesterday extolled the attribute of his wife at the requiem massorganised in memory of the deceased in Abuja.

Chike and Dora Akunyili

1. She lived beyond doctor’s expectation

Speaking on behalf of the family, Dr Chike said his late wife lived beyond the time predicted by doctors in 2012, when she was diagnosed.

“When I told her doctors said she would not live for more than seven months, she said doctors have spoken but God has not spoken and then she lived for another two years and three months,” Chike said.

2. She rejected her American citizenship

He said his wife was a very patriotic citizen who proved her patriotism when she returned her American passport as a citizen of US in order for her to keep her Nigerian diplomatic passport. Explaining, he said: “We went to Florida, and there at the immigration, they told her, ‘look, you are an American citizen (because she won the lottery and that was what favoured us). And here you are, you have a Nigerian diplomatic passport, you must surrender one. She used her left hand to drop her green card and retained her diplomatic passport. So you can see the level of her love for this country.”

3. She loved Nigeria and served her till death

According to Dr Chike, the late Dora had a message for Nigeria which was a message of love, courage and steadfastness and she served the country till her death. Even when she was very ill and in pain, she still took part in the national conference.

4. She used to hold water for him

He revealed how she used to still hold water in a bowl for him to wash his hands despite her qualifications, saying, “Even as a professor, if you see her in the home, she would hold water for me to wash my hand. And I would tell her, Mummy, you are a professor and she would say, ‘I married Nkem before I became a professor.’”