You knw im looking for support for my new Play Dora
Dora is on the life and times of the iconic fmr DG of NAFDAC Dora Akunyili who fought almost to the death against drug counterfeiting amongst others
In the process, the sector was sanitised and she paid a bitter price with some saying that her activities may have led to the gruesome murder of her beloved husband after she herself had passed from illness
So you would agree that my first port of call would be NAFDAC where she made her name
I already have precedent in things like this, like having the CBN support our play on Emir Sanusi
Thats how we wrote them and got an acknowledgement copy.
My neighbour works at NAFDAC and she asked me to call the SA to the DG which I did.
He inturn said – ohhh i have minuted it to Public Affairs, lets wait and see their recommendations
I wasnt going to do that – wait and see, so I went back to my Neighbour who now said, just walk in and ask for Christy the Public Affairs head.
So I drove down to their Isolo office and as she said, walked straight into Christy’s office
She wasn’t around and her people gave me her number
I called and she was very gracious on the phone and asked me to wait for a bit since I didn’t come with an appointment
Impatient me drove off after a bit and she called me – where are you?
On my way to Ikoyi and she said ok, tell me what its all about and I told her and she said lets meet tomorrow
Tomorow which is today came and I went to meet her.
Talk led to talk and she started mentioning some of my ogas as her colleagues – Shaka Momodu, Davidson Iriekpen and the rest.
After briefly explaining to her what we needed from NAFDAC, she said – ohhh and the DG is around o, lets go try and see if we can meet with the DG
Wow. This was massive, such a gracious lady
Now NAFDAC has the Oshodi lab which we were and the Isolo office which is on the Oshodi – Apapa Expressway.
So we decided to take the short ride there in my car
As we talked, she said where is your office and I said Ikoyi and she said ohhh that yesterday when I told you I was coming to Ikoyi, I was actually headed to my husbands office
I said ohhh where does your husvand work and she said in one of the banks and I said ohh which and she said, he heads PR in Unity Bank
I just screamed – Matthew and she said aghhh, You know my husband?
And I replied, I want knw am die? Mathew and I were colleagues at FCMB a brilliant and very efficient PR expert.
I left him at FCMB some 5 years ago and when I went to Unity Bank last year to partner with them on my Ekiti International Theatre Festival, it was Matthew that I worked with.
So see me here now, with Matthews wife heading Public Affairs at NAFDAC and with both of us screaming – Its a small world.
As I write, Im at her office on standby to see the DG who now happens to be in their usual long drawn meetings
No matter what comes out of this, I am already a winner cos once again, I have seen that the most important resource or capital in this world, is your Network
Do you knw how to build a Network?
Na wa
Duke of Shomolu
Last modified: February 19, 2026
