Dr Stella Adadevoh – Commendations as Nigeria’s Ebola hero gets National Honour 8 years after heroic act
When the name of Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh appeared on the list of 447 people selected to be conferred with National Honours by the Nigerian government in October 2022, many had no reason to subject the decision to scrutiny.
Adadevoh was conferred with a posthumous Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) award by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, October 11, 2022.
There was a consensus among the majority of Nigerians that the honour was not only deserving, but also long overdue for her resilience and sacrifice “for the greater public good” in July 2014.
“So happy to see that Dr. Stella Adadevoh has finally been given a National Honour. I hope even more is done to immortalise her name. I can’t think of many of who deserve it better than this rare hero,” Dr. Amina Ahmed El-Imam, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ilorin tweeted.
Buhari told the audience at the presentation ceremony in Abuja on Tuesday, that some of the criteria for selecting the awardees include “rendering unsolicited, selfless and philanthropic services to humanity; outstanding sacrifice in the defence of a cause popularly adjudged to be positive, relevant and beneficial to the nation and community.”
He added “distinct act of bravery in the protection and/or defence of national interest, public peace, safety of life and property.”
Adadevoh ticks all the boxes.
In 2014, when the Ebola virus raced through West Africa and other parts of the world, Adadevoh helped Nigeria stop the virus from finding its way into the city center by ensuring the first carrier, Patrick Sawyer, didn’t leave the First Consultants Medical Centre (FCMC) in Ikoyi, where Dr. Adadevoh worked.
Sawyer, a Liberian-American who flew to Lagos to attend a conference of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) after contracting the virus from his sister in Liberia, was rushed to the hospital after collapsing at the Lagos airport.
Despite pressure from the Liberian Embassy and ECOWAS to release Sawyer to attend his conference in Calabar, Adadevoh insisted he must take an Ebola test and “for the greater public good” she would not release him until the result of the test was out.
She alerted the authorities and resisted Sawyer’s attempt to abscond from the hospital by endangering her life. Adadevoh tested positive for Ebola on August 4, 2014 and died on August 19.
Her heroics helped Nigeria avert a major outbreak and spread of the virus beyond the hospital. While the virus killed more than 11,000 people in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone that year, Nigeria had 20 cases. 11 were healthcare workers and of those health workers, six survived and five died, including Dr. Adadevoh and some of her colleagues at the First Consultants Medical Centre.
Before Ebola, Adadevoh was the first doctor to diagnose and alert the country’s Ministry of Health to a case of swine flu (H1N1) in Lagos in 2012. The Swine flu, a respiratory disease caused by type A influenza virus in pigs, swept through the world from 2009 to 2010 with over 200,000 fatalities worldwide.
Her journey to becoming a national hero which unfortunately claimed her life transcends her fight against Ebola.
Although many Nigerians have been calling on the government to recognise and honour Adadevoh for her heroic act, her cousin, Kwami Adadevoh, told Neusroom that “she was just doing her job the way she knew how to do it and there was no interest in any National award.”
He said in the eight years since her heroic act, the family has set up a medical trust – the Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh Health Trust, focused on education and enlightenment in the rural and urban areas, especially with regard to infectious diseases like Ebola.
Kwami who spoke to Neusroom on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, said it is heartwarming that she’s been awarded a National Honour by the nation.
“For the family, it was never an issue of when it should come. If they hadn’t done it, it wouldn’t have reduced her value in the sight of every Nigerian who knew about the whole thing,” he said.
Born October 27, 1956, Adadevoh was an alumnus of the University of Lagos. Her father, Prof Babatunde Adadevoh, was also a renowned physician and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, while her great-grandfather Sir Herbert Macaulay was one of Nigeria’s nationalists.
The Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh Health Trust said it is gratefuk that her labour and legacy were not in vain.
“For love, duty, and country we are grateful that the life, labors and legacy of Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh (OON) were not in vain as we continue to celebrate her through our work and commitment to keeping our nation healthy and safe,” the organisation tweeted on Tuesday.
Some Nigerians, however, want the government to do more to immortalise Adadevoh
Victor Asemota, a Nigerian technology entrepreneur and CEO of SwiftaCorp, believes Adadevoh should have been awarded a Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), Nigeria’s highest honour.
