Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed how he chose the late Professor Dora Akunyili as the boss of the National Agency For Food Drug Administration And Control, NAFDAC when he was in power.
Speaking at the 14th annual lecture of the Women in Management Business and Public service, held at Eko hotels and Suites, Lagos, the former President said, “I was looking for somebody who would work in NAFDAC. There was an old man who was there and didn’t really impress me. I had had a couple of meetings with him and I found him not (to be) the type of man I would want to have on that job.
“I was talking to a friend who said, ‘Oh, there is a lady; she went to Britain for a medical (program) and when she finished, she said whatever money was left from the money deposited by her department should be sent back to the department.
“And the people called her and said, ‘Are you not a Nigerian? Nigerians will come here and say add something which you would pay back to us later.’
“So, I said there is a Nigerian woman like that, where is she? So, I located Dora and I said, ‘What is your profession?’ She said, pharmacy. I said pharmacy; I am looking for a pharmacist for this job. She got the job.”
The former President said Nigeria is not “short of women of virtue, women of character, women of integrity", even as he encouraged women to get actively involved in politics.
