Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, the medical doctor who died from Ebola after contracting it from a Liberian patient (Patrick Sawyer) she treated in Lagos has won the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Nigeria Integrity Award with a cash prize of N2.5 million.
A posthumous award, Dr. Adadevoh is credited with curbing a wider spread of the Ebola Virus in Nigeria by placing Sawyer in quarantine despite pressures from the Liberian Government.
Speaking last weekend at an Integrity award night held as part of the Capital Market Committee, CMC Retreat in Abuja, former Chairman of Subsidy Re-investment Programme SURE-P, Dr. Christopher Kolade commended Adadevoh for doing what is right even in the face of intense pressure and at the risk of her life. Kolade urged the federal government to view Dr. Adadevoh’s sacrifice as a contribution for all and find ways of honouring her accordingly.
He said “It is important for us to come away from the territory of inadequate sense of what is right in this country where doctors have problems with employees they withdraw their service so that patients will die.
“Adadevoh died because she saw her role as one to save us from the virus. May God honour her soul and May Nigeria has sufficient reason somewhere in the future to honour her”.
Earlier, Ms. Arunma Oteh, the Director- General of SEC said that the award was the commission’s contributions toward the promotion, recognition and reward for integrity. “These acts of honesty and integrity had sprinkled a burst of refreshing dew upon the national consciousness,” Oteh said.
She said that “the integrity award is a careful response to a critical need of the Nigerian society, as it is through it that trust is built and sustained.”
In a response, Simon Tasie of First Consultant hospital said looking at events of the last four months they are proud of the role they played but also mourn their fallen heroes.
“We declined to allow him go in public good, the whole country is our constituency and we must live up to our individual and collective responsibility. We are very grateful and highly honoured for this award and pray you grow strong in regulating. We must all live up to our responsibility so that in 50 years time we will live to remember what Adedevoh has done” he added.