By Ikenna Asomba

As 2014 goes into the archives today, corporate and non-governmental organisations, NGOs have begun to honour those whose activities stood them out as heroes and heroines. It was against this backdrop that Leadership Watch, an NGO, recently honoured the late Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh whose timely intervention saved millions of Nigerians from contracting the deadly Ebola virus disease, EVD.

Dr Adadevoh was a Senior Consultant at the First Consultant Medical Centre, FCMC, Obalende, Lagos, where the index Ebola Viru Disease victim, Patrick Sawyer died. The Liberian-American diplomat, was prevented from travelling to an ECOWAS event in Calabar by Dr Adadevoh when she realised that he was carrying the Ebola virus.

Adedavoh paid the supreme sacrifice on August 19, but her selfless and dedicated service, helped to stop the spread of the deadly virus. Leadership Watch which gathered eminent Nigerians to its 13th Annual Leadership Role Role Model Awards 2014, called on the Federal and Lagos State governments to immortalise Dr. Adadevoh and other medical personnel who lost their lives trying to treat EVD patients.

Special awards

Mr. Simon Tachie, Director, Hospital Administration, First Consultant Medical Centre, and other staff of the hospital receiving the Leadership Watch, 13th Annual Leadership Role Model Awards 2014, on behalf of Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh

Apart from Adadevoh, other Nigerians and organisations given specials awards for their efforts in containing the dreaded virus included former Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris;, the Chief Medical Director of FCMC, Dr. Benjamin Ohaeri; National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC.

The Founder/Chief Executive Officer, LW, Dr. Martins Iwuanyanwu said the NGO came up with the awards after a deep thought on those who laboured and sacrificed their lives to ensure that the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, did not spread round. “Of course we know the population of this country and the way we live as a people. If serious efforts were not made to contain the spread of Ebola, our case would have been worse today than what is being witnessed in Sierra-Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

It is so sad that in Nigeria, we forget so quickly. The entire world is applauding us that we have done so much to contain the spread of the EVD, but we have not thought of celebrating ourselves. In this regard, we are making a case for the Nigerian government to take care of the dependents of Dr. Adedavoh and other medical personnel who lost their lives. We also believe that the Lagos State Government has a role to play. There is no reason why one of the streets in the important parts of Lagos, should not be renamed after her,” he said.

The Director, Hospital Administration, FCMC, Mr. Simon Tachie who represented Dr. Benjamin Ohaeri, stated that the best way to immortalise those who died in the selfless service of containing the EVD was for government to build international centers across the states that will provide the necessary facilities to prevent the re-occurrence the disease.

The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, Mr. Tunji Oyebanji, who chaired the occasion, explained that even though Nigerians have derailed, the selfless sacrifices made by Dr. Adadevoh and others to keep the country safe, shows that there is still hope for the country.

“The awards became imperative because as a nation, Nigerians have completely derailed. The focus today is all about here and now and what one can get immediately. But those nations that have grown and have become great, have had people who have made selfless sacrifices and do not think of themselves alone in doing things. However, I still have hope in Nigeria because of the sacrifices made by our medical practitioners to keep our country safe today. It shows that there are still few people in Nigeria who could make selfless sacrifices for the good of the populace,” he posited.

Meanwhile, a Deputy Director in the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Eniola Erinosho who represented the Health Commissioner, Dr. Jide Idris affirmed that the Governor Babatunde Fashola-led administration is not resting on its oars to ensure that the state is adequately prepared to combat a re-occurrence of the EVD.

Disclosing the measures that have been put in place, Erinosho said: “Our preparedness is visibly seen in the large contingents from Lagos among the volunteers moving from Nigeria to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra-Leone. Despite the fact that we have contained Ebola in the state, the Lagos State Executive Council has made some decisions that all hands still need to be on deck, because the disease can still be imported again into the country. “First, we are sustaining the Isolation Centres. We are still running clinical health services there, so that if there is any outbreak in the country, we can contain it effectively. Also, we ensure that those we have trained are together and are doing their routine work, so that if there is any outbreak, we can assemble them within few hours”.

“The state government has also embarked on research on the EVD, even as we intend to upgrade the Mainland Hospital into a Centre for Disease Control for emerging and highly pathogenic infections that can be managed in the country. We are working with a consortium now referred to as the Global Ebola Treatment Consortium. We are trying to see how we can use the plasma from survivors to produce drugs that can cure the disease,” he said.