Late Stella Adadevoh sealed her place in history when she prevented the Ebola epidemic from spreading in Africa’s most populous country, but six years after her passage, Nigeria’s national honours have continued to elude her, raising posers as to who is best deserving of such coveted laurels.
“Stella has received 19 post-humous award, but none has come from the Nigerian government since her passage. That’s something for the Nigerian government to ponder upon,” said Michael Chiemele Azuzu, Professor of Disciplinary Public Health and Community Medicine. He spoke as a guest speaker at the Dr. Ameyo S. Adadevoh Memorial Lecture, held virtually, Tuesday.
Adadevoh’s heroic response to the existential threat posed by Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian official on 14th of July, 2014, through her spot-on diagnosis which quickly detected that he was a carrier of the killer-contagion was as important as her demonstration of character in rebuffing pressure from the Liberian government to let Sawyer slip away into the larger Nigerian population.
The Liberian, upon his arrival through the Murtala Mohammed International airport, Lagos collapsed and was rushed to First Consultant Hospital, Obalende, where Dr. Adadevoh practiced as the Lead Consultant Physician at the time. Sawyer was billed to travel to Calabar for an high-level conference. His trip was of great interest to the West African nation of Liberia, diplomatic souces said.
But at that point nothing mattered to Adadevoh any more, other than saving her beloved 200 million countrymen and women.
In spite of the aggressive attempt to influence her sense of responsibility, she prevailed on the situation, however, contracted the Ebola virus from Sawyer who later died of the disease. Almost a month after Sawyer’s death, the disease said to be deadlier than Covid-19 took Adadevoh’s life on 19th August, 2020. Also, four of her colleagues at the hospital who attended to Sawyer: Amos Abaniwo, a medical doctor; Justina Ejelonu, a nurse; and Evelyn Uko, a nurse aide contracted the disease and all died. Through their work and eternal sacrifice, the looming catastrophe was averted as the contagion was limited to only 20 persons with eight fatalities recorded in populous Nigeria.
Ebola killed 11, 323 persons in West Africa between December 2013 and January 2016 before it was contained.
Medical experts have said the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country has further highlighted the efficacy of the prompt response the nation got from the Ebola heroes –Dr Adadevoh and colleagues.
As of Tuesday, 27th October, Nigeria on paper has recorded 62, 224 cases of the novel Coronavirus with 1,135 deaths spread across her 36 states and the FCT, Abuja.
Since 2014, the Nigerian government has not find a better way to recognise the heroine and the health professionals who died in the line of duty.
In 2020, a road, located along Ahmadu Bello Way, close to the Nigerian Air Force Conference Centre, was renamed after Adedovah, but Nigerians have been demanding for a bigger recognition for her outstanding contribution.
At this year’s memorial lecture organized by Foundation for African Cultural Heritage to honour her memory, Prof. Asuzu, said giving a national honour to the thoroughbred professional will not only send the right signal that this a nation that honours her true heroes, but it will communicate a clear message that doing the right thing should not be sacrificed for rabid interests and pecuniary gains.
“Stella Adadevoh did what a properly trained doctor should do for herself, her patient, the profession, her hospital, the
country and the world at large, in spite of all odds; and lost her life in the exercise.” Asuzu, who recently retired from the department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan said.
He added that one of the ways health practitioners can emulate her rare virtues is by not allowing politicians or vested interest to hijack their delicate role to the society.
“Nigeria is at the cross-roads at the moment – for her very life, her leaders, her people and the health services at large. Shall we all, especially the medical and health workers, do what needs to be done; or shall we continue in this business as usual everywhere? Should we possess our possessions of the entire medical and health professions
and their services organization and delivery from the politicians; or what shall we do else, continue to sell to those jingoisms?” He asked.
Asuzu urged health professionals to embrace “the UBUNTU, the UHURU, the OGU NA OFOR, the OMOLUABI, etc, cultures of Ameyo and not the present
atheistic, materialist, and secularist, humanistic, selfish ones of the West of absolute autonomy and ‘rights’ without responsibilities.”
The university don said the wrought in the nation’s health system can be addressed by developing and implementing a properly integrated health system, as well as enhancing the functionality of the primary healthcare system in the grassroots.
According to him, the way forward for the health sector is in: “Genuine orientation of our medical and health professional education to public and community health (including the inherent team work) from the very outset of these things
“Reduction of the over-verticalization of all public health and their proper, professionally correct dovetailing to genuine statutory community health when they get to that community level. A genuine vertical (two-way referral) as well horizontal integration (statutory
community medicine and health) of the entire national (or at least state) health systems.” Prof. Asuzu said.
