DR STELLA SHADE AMEYO ADADEVOH SHE DIED THAT WE MAY LIVE! About two years ago, a news review began an account of the life of a recently deceased Nigerian thus: ‘’Some news, while sad to the ears, but one out of the many sad news brings a ray of hope, displaying that there might be light at the end of this ‘Ebola tunnel’ after all’’. The ‘good news’ being referred to here was that of the recovery of one victim of the dreaded Ebola virus in Nigeria. Unfortunately, this was not the case for the one who confronted the scourge in the beginning. Parents pray God that their children might live to a ripe old age, even children tread cautiously through life’s troublous labyrinth with a mission to preserve life and limb. Many women, brandishing the excuse of a weaker sex, seek the easy path to tackle perceived challenges, but not this amazon! Born Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, she had a most remarkable pedigree as the paternal great grand-daughter of Herbert Samuel Macaulay, one of the most celebrated founders of Modern Nigeria, while her maternal grandfather was the first cousin of Nigeria’s first President, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. Her father, Professor Babatunde Kwaku Adadevoh was a renowned, distinguished physician, scientist, lecturer, author, consultant and one-time Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos. Stella Adadevoh graduated with an MBBS from the University of Lagos College of Medicine at 24 years, and subsequently concluded a fellowship in endocrinology at Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College, London. In spite of greater opportunities for career progress abroad, Stella chose to come back to motherland Nigeria where (prophetically it was made manifest later), she was most needed to make an impact on the health care system. She proved to be an uncommon professional; working seven days a week, doing house calls for free, and even doing domestic chores for some of her patients and paying the bills of her less buoyant patients! Stella Adadevoh was indeed called to be a doctor. Even till her dying moments on Tuesday, August 19, 2014, Dr Adadevoh remained charming, paying greater value on other people’s lives than her own. She was a member of the Nigerian Medical Association, Medical Women Association of Nigeria, British-Nigerian Association, Endocrine and Metabolism Society of Nigeria, etc. she also served as Non-Executive Director of Learn Africa PLC and writer for the ‘Ask the Doc’ column in Today’s Woman Magazine She worked for 21 years and rose to be lead physician and endocrinologist at First Consultants Medical Centre in Lagos. Her name had virtually become synonymous with First Consultants Hospital as she had treated many families, endearing herself to them as a devoted care-giver, exceptional doctor, consultant, confidant and counsellor. Here, she distinguished herself as an uncommon patriot, dedicated leader and uncommon heroine, and here, she had encounters with history: When in 2012, H1N1 (Swine Flu) hit Nigeria, she was the first doctor to diagnose it and alert the Ministry of Health. On July 20, when Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian diplomat, broke quarantine and paid a genocidal visit to Nigeria, Stella Adadevoh brushed aside personal safety and attended to the maiden case of Ebola in Nigeria. In regular situations, Sawyer would have been referred to a government hospital at a time when Resident doctors were on strike, or, being fully aware of the grave danger of having a roving live bomb lurking around, other less altruistic persons would have, understandably, loosed Sawyer and let him go. (In fact, an account given by her only son, Bankole, affirms that she actually declared three months earlier after some study that Nigeria was not ready for the Ebola scourge). But that is not the stuff heroines are made of. In spite of absence of necessary infrastructure to manage the situation, and well aware of the cataclysmic potentials of the crisis, this thoroughbred professional defied intense physical, administrative and even diplomatic red tape and pressures and near-blackmail to detain Sawyer at First Consultants; a move which proved fatal for her, but by which she saved Nigeria, Africa and perhaps the world from a catastrophy of unimaginable proportions! Indeed, this amazon, treading in the mould of her prodigious ilk, knowingly and happily laid down her life to save millions. She perhaps went beyond the wildest expectations of the Hippocratic Oath and the call of duty, and, from the account of Bankole Cardoso, Dr Adadevoh’s only son, she carried the family along in this suicidal mission right from the day the index case was diagnosed. In essence, Ameyo’s ultimate sacrifice to the world was done with the full, painful and altruistic acceptance of the mortal consequence by her family. The world indeed owes the Adadevoh family unending gratitude! Dr Ameyo’s heroic actions and sacrifice propelled the Nigerian government and indeed the world into prompt action which led to the amazingly successful and prompt containment of the Ebola scourge in Nigeria, a nation brimming with over 170million inhabitants who are mostly in constant physical touch with millions of other people on a daily basis. Let’s not even try to imagine the gravity of the horrendous consequences that an unquarantined Patrick Sawyer portended for Africa’s most populous and perhaps most ubiquitous people. No wonder a grateful world rose in unison to celebrate and appreciate this once- in-a-Nigerian-lifetime icon by showering her with accolades (at least five each in the months of October, November and November 2014 alone!). Some of these are captured below Posthumous Awards/Honours

 Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) (Baze University-October 11, 2014)  Nollywood Humanity Award- October 18, 2014  Women in Management, Business Organizations and Public Service- November 3, 2014  Exemplary Leadership Award (Pathcare Laboratories-November 12, )  Distinguished Service Award (Guild of Medical Directors, FCT, Abuja- November 12, 2014)  Commemorative Plaque (Nigerian-American Medical Foundation- November 19, 2014)  Nigeria’s Hero of the Year Award (The Sun Awards-November 30, 2014)  Number 1 Global Thinker of 2014 (Lo Spazio della Politica-December 23, 2014)  CNN Leading Woman of 2014-December 23, 2014,  Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Awards, Global Health Resources-June 26, 2015etc  She has been listed in Wikipedia, a medium which places her in the league of the high and mighty globally,  There have also been lots of tributes written and spoken globally about the exemplary woman that Nigeria had the grace and honour to have bequeathed the world. Some of these include:  Ebola crisis: How Nigeria’s Dr Adadevoh fought the Virus-BBC (UK)  This Hero doctor died helping to make Nigeria Ebola free-Channel 4 (UK)  President Mahama Eulogises late Adadevoh-Daily Trust (Ghana)  Remembering my Aunt, Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh, who stopped Ebola in Nigeria-MSH Blog (USA).  Dr Ameyo Adadevoh, Ebola, and the real meaning of Christ dying for our sins-Spitual Insights for Everyday Life (USA) Memorial services were held in her honour in Lagos, Nigeria; Accra,Ghana; London, England; and Atlanta, USA. Also, a Non-Governmental Organisation, The Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh (DRASA) Health Trust was set up in her honour to work towards advancing healthcare provision in Nigeria, especially in the area of infectious diseases. And today, the Tai Solarin University of Education award of Doctor of Science Education (D.Sc. Ed.) (Honoris Causa) in Health Education. Here was a woman of utmost diligence in her works; she did dine with princes in her lifetime, and even in death, the heavens continue to blaze forth her story. Surely, many years hence, long after the accolades have simmered and eulogies subdued, Dr. Stella Shade Ameyo Adadevoh will remain a shinning memento of one of the best that Nigeria can offer the world!!!