The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, on Monday urged the late Prof. Dora Akunyili’s children to celebrate the achievements of their mother rather than mourn her demise.
The minister said this when he led the management of the ministry on a condolence visit to the Abuja residence of the late former Minister of Information and Communications.
Labaran Maku
Maku, accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs Folasade Esan and directors, told the children that the late Akunyili was not only a loss to their family but the entire nation.
He, however, urged them not to despair but to be consoled that their mother lived a life worth celebrating having distinguished herself in all tasks assigned to her.
“Our visit today to you, her children, is to comfort you and to urge you to take heart because your mother’s demise is not only your loss but a loss to the entire nation and everybody is mourning.
“Every one of us has a destiny and each time we accomplish our destiny in life we depart and this is a simple fact.
“Therefore, it is my conviction that our sister lived her life and was due to depart. She lived a fulfilled life that you all must celebrate despite the pain.\
“I urge you all to stop mourning but to celebrate her life,’’ he said.
He assured the family of the ministry’s preparedness to participate in the burial programme of the late former information minister.
Earlier, Esan charged the family, particularly the children, to live for what the late Akunyili lived for.
Esan said the best way to remember the late former minister and keep her memory alive was to continue with her legacies.
The permanent secretary urged the family to be comforted because the deceased lived a fulfilled life that had become a reference point for most Nigerians, especially the womenfolk.
Responding on behalf of the family, Mr Chidiogwu Akunyili, the last son the deceased, thanked the delegation for the visit.
Chidiogwu said the family, particularly the children, was comforted and overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and concern by Nigerians.
He said the family would work hard to sustain the good things that their mother lived for, describing her as one that would be missed by the family.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the late Akunyili died on June 7 in an Indian hospital.
