Former Minister of Information and Communication and erstwhile Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Professor Dora Nkem Akunyili, finally bowed to ovarian cancer yesterday after weeks of repeated rumours of her death.
News of her death was officially announced by a former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, on the Anambra Broadcasting Service, ABS. Obi said Akunyili died after a protracted battle with cancer.
Akunyili died in a Specialist Cancer Hospital in India where she was taken after her health relapsed shortly after she made few public appearances at the on-going National Conference.
Dr. Akinyili was born on July 14, 1954 in Makurdi, Benue state; she was a renowned Pharmacist and administrator.
She once ran for the Senatorial chair for Anambra Central on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2011 but lost.