Dora Akunyili’s fight against fake drugs won my respect —Wellcome Book Prize finalist, Ayobami Adebayo

A Lagos State -born novelist , Ayobami Adebayo, has revealed that the late Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control , Mrs . Dora Akunyili was one Nigerian politician , she could call a role model .Adebayo, in an interview with a British magazine , New Statesman, published on Wednesday , said of the late Dora Akunyili , “ Her efforts to get rid of fake drugs in Nigeria saved thousands , if not millions , of lives . She was the first Nigerian politician , I could actually respect . ”

The 30 – year – old author , whose first novel , ‘ Stay with Me , ’ was shortlisted for the 2017 Baileys Women ’ s Prize for Fiction and the 2018 Wellcome Book Prize , also criticised politicians for not doing enough to save the earth .

Adebayo further expressed her wish for Akunyili ’ s daughter , Njideka Akunyili Crosby , to paint her portrait .

Speaking on another career paths , she would have chosen in another life , she said , “ Historian , anthropologist , teacher or playwright . In 3018 , I would love to be a therapist for robots who have had it with their human colleagues . In 2018 , I would settle for being a therapist to humans .

“ The planet appears to be ( doomed ) , but maybe we ’ ll figure out how to live on Mars . It would be easier and more practical to pursue policies that could actually save this planet , but I suppose politicians have secret mansions on Mars already . ”

Listing some of her favourite songs , the novelist singer said , “ This goes back and forth between ‘ Here Comes the Sun ’ and ‘ Amazing Grace’ . There’ s also Simi ’ s version of Ebenezer Obey ’ s Yoruba classic , ‘ Aimasiko ’ . ”

Adebayo stated that her earliest memory was of herself standing in the living room , desperate to be in the kitchen instead .

“ I definitely wasn ’ t four yet because we were still in my family ’ s first home . What I remember vividly about that moment is the smell of vanilla wafting towards me from the kitchen .

“ I think my mother was baking a cake that day . Even now , I can hardly resist the pull of a slice of cake , ” she said .

According to her , the last book that changed her thinking was Emmanuel Iduma ’ s “ Artful and Gorgeous ‘ A Stranger ’ s Pose ’ . ”

She added , “ I ’ ve always thought of myself as decidedly and irrevocably Yoruba /Nigerian . This book challenged my ideas about home and identity . ”

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