From Amazon to Monument.
As you approach the roundabout before Golden Tulip Hotel Agulu, this magnificent statue of Prof Dora Akunyili rises from the distance to welcome you.
In life and in death, Dora Akunyili stands out. No other woman has been preserved with a monument of this nature in Igboland.
The other day, when I pulled over to take pictures of this statue, the only thing that came to my mind was the voice of the great patriot declaring “if die, I die” to her fellow ministers over a decade ago when Nigeria was swallowed up by the Yar’Adua dilemma and it took her courageous bombshell of a memo to shake the Executive Council of the Federation out of its prolonged slumber.
The country had found herself in a mess. Former President Yar’Adua had been sidelined by ailment but his Vice was prevented by a certain Aso Rock cabal from assuming full responsibility as prescribed by the constitution. Nigeria withered in the ensuing confusion. Who would bell the cat?
Akunyili struck at the right moment. Her colleagues in the Council didn’t see her coming. It was a 42-page memo in which she reminded her fellow ministers that they had a duty to provide leadership to Nigerians and that the right thing to do was to allow the Vice President take over the reins of leadership. Tempers flared. She was openly threatened by the brutal cabal that had held Nigeria hostage. But she shot back at people worried about her safety with that memorable quote – “If I die, I die.”
Today, Akunyili is no more. But she is not dead! Her voice will echo through the ages.
For the world may lose memory of how much wealth we acquire, but history will never forget the things we say when silence is costly.
The monument was commissioned by her husband, Dir Chike Akunyili and sculpted by Sebastian Ugwuoke.
In saner climes, the Akunyili monument should be a tourist attraction. There would be a proper center where her life works would be studied and her numerous awards displayed.
James Eze is the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Willy Obiano of Anambra State
