Akunyili’s Daughter Honours Mother’s Heroism, Releases Anticipated Book

Akunyili’s Daughter Honours Mother’s Heroism, Releases Anticipated Book

To honour the inspirational life of Dora Akunyili whose life and legacy inspired others in the fight against corruption in Nigeria, her daughter, Chidiogo Akunyili-Parr has released an intimate memoir titled, ‘I Am Because We Are: An African Mother’s Fight for the Soul of a Nation.’

Released in January 2022, it hit the bookstores nationwide on Friday, February 4 under the title ‘I Am Because We Are: The Story of Dora Akunyili.’

The story is told through the personal lens of Akunyili-Parr who was also influenced largely by the African philosophy of Ubuntu. The philosophy, which guided the late Akunyili’s approach to public service, places the importance of community over the individual.

The book, which is the author’s first, offers an in-depth view of how late Akunyili took on fraudulent drug manufacturers whose products killed millions, including her sister.

It explores how the writer’s mother became the nation’s matriarch, a woman in a man’s world, a fearless cabinet minister, who survived political maneuverings, death threats, and an assassination attempt for defending the voiceless.

In the author’s words in describing the book, “while the world saw Dora Akunyili at the peak of her strength — a warrior with a gap-toothed smile whose light-skinned oval face was crowned with a colourful head-tie that doubled as armour against incessant attacks against her values and also her life — I saw the complexity that was hidden from sight. This is the story of her multiplicity: the story of my mother.”

“I have spent much of the last four years dedicated to bringing her story to life in this memoir — each step in researching and writing her story has allowed an unwrapping of her — the girl, the daughter, the dreamer, the wife, mother, warrior — her motivations, her struggles, and celebrations,’’ she said.

The book illuminates the role of kinship, family, and the individual’s place in society, while revealing a life of courage, how community shaped it and the web of humanity that binds us all.

The Nigerian edition of the book is published by Safari Books Ltd, and available on major physical and online platforms across Nigeria.