Protocol
Ndi be anyi ekene dili unu!
We are gathered here today to bestow an enduring honour on our beloved sister, daughter, wife, mother, teacher, moralist, crusader, role model, merchant of hope and angel of light; Professor Mrs. Dora Nkem Akunyili, who left us a little over a year ago. We are gathered here to remind ourselves that we have not completely lost our moorings as a people; that the greatest legacy a man or woman can leave is a good name. Brothers and sisters, we are gathered here to affirm the wise saying of our elders that ezi afa ka ego – a good name is better than gold!
Indeed, the life and times of Dora Akunyili should serve as a strong call to moral re-armament among our people. It should remind us that we finally begin to live when we choose to live in the service of the people; when our lives bring hope, happiness and fulfilment to people around us. Dora reminds us that a life of service to the community is the true life of meaning.
Most of us here are familiar with the legend of Dora Akunyili…her high moral principles, her indestructible spirit, her blunt refusal to be ordinary and her titanic battles to redeem Nigeria! We are familiar with her courage in the face of extreme danger; her unwavering commitment to the cause she believed in even when a bullet peeled off her head gear, her passionate speech at the National Conference while she endured the biting pains of cancer and of course her blunt refusal to be cowed when the struggle for succession that followed the death of President Yar’Adua needed a rallying point.
I recall with nostalgia and pride, Dora’s historic memo that woke the nation from slumber and set the stage for her fellow cabinet members to accept the inevitability of change. But perhaps more importantly, I recall her famous declaration of her readiness to pay the supreme price to save Nigeria when standing in the attention of the world on the floor of the Executive Council Chambers; she proclaimed “if I die, I die!” I also remember that moments after making her historic remarks, Dora justified her decision to stand up for what was right when she told a journalist; “I had to stand up even if I was standing alone.” That is the legend whose memory we have gathered to immortalize today. Very Outstanding indeed!
Brothers and sisters, Dora has taught us the values of standing alone. She has taught us that it is better to stand alone for righteousness than to enjoy the momentary satisfaction that comes from standing in the company of knaves. Dora’s life reminds us of the wise words of Martin Luther king Junior that “a man who has nothing to die for is not fit to live.”
So, as we honour Dora today, we build a psychological monument to her name. We lift her up as a beacon of hope to our people. We hold her up as a shining example to our youths and we celebrate her as the quintessence of virtue to our women! Surely, Umu nwanyi Anambra cannot accept mediocrity again because Dora Akunyili lived among us. Truly, umuada Anambra can no longer be restrained from dreaming big dreams because they walk in the footsteps of Dora Akunyili.
In honouring Dora today, we remind ourselves that she is not dead. We remind ourselves that Dora Akunyili can never die because she lives in us. And in the words of Thomas Campbell, a well-known Scottish poet; “to live in the hearts of those we leave hind is not to die.”
Ladies and gentlemen, it is on this note that I invoke the powers invested in me by the honourable members of the Anambra State House of Assembly and hereby rename the Women Development Center Awka as the Prof. Dora Akunyili Women Development Center, Awka… And so help me God!
Thank you
Dalu nu!
Willie Obiano
Governor
Governor Obiano’s speech at a ceremony Immortalizing Prof. Dora Nkemdilim Akunyili
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Sunday, September 06, 2015
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Reviewed by Unknown
on
Sunday, September 06, 2015
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