The Ameyo Adadevoh I knew By Chidi Odinkalu The consequences could have been unfathomable if Mr. Sawyer had ended up in a General Hospital, for instance. It required someone with her capabilities and pedigree to be able to take the measures needed to firewall Mr. Sawyer and limit the contamination that he would have inflicted. For that, she paid with her life. Ameyo became a doctor at 25. She had been my personal and family doctor for over 15 years. Her roots were both deep and grand. She is one of the few Nigerians the face of whose recent ancestor adorns one of our currency denominations. Her Great-Grand Father, Herbert Macaulay, is one of the most celebrated founders of modern Nigeria. Her father was himself a distinguished physician, academic and university administrator of considerable distinction. Not that any of this mattered much to her. When Ameyo qualified as a doctor in 1981, I was still a kid in High School. Yet, I could get away with calling her “Ameyo”. To many of the children, she was “Auntie Ameyo”. She simply wanted to get things done, and done right. That was important to her: doing things right. In her field, Ameyo took no prisoners and tolerated no half measures. If you came to her with issues outside her field, she knew the experts to. If you showed up hoping to get worshipped, you were in the wrong shrine. There was something about her directness, professionalism, commitment to knowledge and curiosity, and irreverence that made Ameyo deserving of respect well beyond the calling of the cloth. She loved her calling and was totally dedicated to it. When my kid brother died in June 2006, my Dad suffered terribly. She took charge of his management and inspired him to re-discover joie de vivre. While she battled for her life this past week and more, my Mum and Dad in Imo State joined in the legion of Nigerians who prayed and wished for a different ending. Like many people who had passed through her, Dad’s testimony is quite simple: “that woman saved my life!” Nigeria is lucky that Mr. Sawyer ended up in the care of Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh and the team she led. A less able lead or a less dedicated team could have let itself and the country down. Read the full article here bayoadeyinka/bayoadeyinka/index.php/entry/the-ameyo-adadevoh-i-knew-by-chidi-odinkalu
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 09:51:35 +0000
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