The family members of the late Dr Ameyo Adadevoh have said they are not happy with President Goodluck Jonathan for failing to commiserate with the family more than two weeks after she died in the line of duty.
The late Adadevoh, who was the first doctor to be claimed by the virus in Nigeria, got infected by the index case, the Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, at the First Consultants Hospital, Obalende, Lagos, where she attended to him and physically prevented him from leaving the hospital, at the risk of her own life.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP Weekend, the late Adadevoh’s uncle, Dr Andrew Omashogowa Mcintosh, who sobbed intermittently, said he was pained that the family had not received the right response from the president.
“Unfortunately, what is painful in my heart is because I have not seen the right response from our president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan. No right response from the federal government. I feel the pain in my heart when they now merely refer to Ameyo as the female dead doctor, a mere female dead doctor for that matter.
What is wrong with this country? Instead of Jonathan coming to commiserate with us – look, if Ameyo had allowed Sawyer to run away, he would have disseminated Ebola to a lot of Nigerians and the spread would be out of control of the government. Sawyer would have thrown Nigeria into a pandemic situation and confusion. Federal Government officials now say she is a female dead doctor — no appreciation, no value; no, this should not be, not a female dead doctor,” he lamented.The deceased’s uncle also berated the federal government for linking the late doctor’s death with the strike by doctors:
“This is an occurrence unrelated with the doctors’ strike. Doctors’ strike is different from Ameyo’s death. They are not advising Jonathan enough. Doctors’ strike is a political problem; it is different from what Ameyo paid the supreme price for. This has to do with safety and security of Nigeria. She saved lives and it has nothing to do with politics. There is no reason whatsoever why President Jonathan should keep quiet about Ameyo’s case. He should be able to make a difference between these two things and come out to honour Ameyo. Ameyo needs to be honoured. A monument needs to be built to honour her. We should do the right thing for once.”When Dr Andrew was asked about the family forgiving Patrick Sawyer after his wife’s apology to Adadevoh’s family, he replied:
I told you what Ameyo meant to the family. Her apology on behalf of her late husband can only be accepted when it comes genuinely from the heart. Personally, I can only accept it when it is not from the lips of the wife but from the heart. You can tell me you are sorry and may only be from the lips and it has no value but when it is from the heart it is a different ball game. There is a different feeling there. It is not a question of saying I am sorry. Did it come from her heart and spirit? Well, if comes from her heart and spirit, I accept her apology. Mind you I am speaking for myself.Mcintosh described the late Adadevoh as a no-nonsense person who was very passionate about, and knew her onions in, administering medical treatment to her patients. Her remains will be buried September 12th. Her family had obtained her ashes after her corpse was decontaminated and cremated by the Lagos State Government.
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