Ebola: Fashola Gives N50m to First Consultants Hospital

Ebola: Fashola Gives N50m to First Consultants Hospital

03 Dec 2014

Governor Babatunde Fashola

Survivors, bereaved families get N2m each
Busayo Adekoya

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, on Tuesday presented the sum of N76 million to First Consultants Hospital, survivors, as well as relatives of those killed by Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the state.

First Consultants, the hospital where the late Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, who imported the Ebola virus into Nigeria was treated, received N50 million.

The governor also gave N2 million each to 13 people, including the survivors and relatives of people who were claimed by the deadly virus.

Fashola who was represented by the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris,  at the presentation of the cheques to the beneficiaries, announced that the amount the state government gave to the beneficiaries was a token when compared to their sacrifices in saving Nigeria from deeper disaster occasioned by the Ebola outbreak.
He emphasised that no amount of money was enough to compensate the hospital, survivors and those infected by the disease that could not make it to share in Nigeria’s testimony as an Ebola-free country.

According to him, Lagos gave a larger portion of the N76 million to First Consultant, explaining that the hospital bore the brunt of the Ebola saga, and consequently, has not been able to recover from it.

He pointed out that the amount would help to get the hospital back to business.
The governor pleaded with Nigerians to stop stigmatising the survivors, rather, to always support and celebrate them as heroes, calling on other donors to contribute their own quota in honouring those courageous Nigerians.

According to Fashola, “Though we overcame the disease, some of the survivors are still being stigmatised probably the people don’t understand what the disease is all about. We need to show that these survivors, including those that died are heroes and heroines of this containment activity. The efforts put in by all to contain ebola in Nigeria has been acknowledged worldwide.  So, what we are doing today is a gesture of our support by government to show that we care and appreciate what they did, and we will not forget them.”

He further tasked all Nigerians to remain vigilant, especially as EVD is still present in some West African countries.

Responding on behalf of the recipients, the Medical Director of First Consultants, Dr Benjamin Ohiaeri, commended Fashola for the donation and his prompt intervention in containing the virus.

He recalled that the governor was out of Nigeria when the virus was brought to Lagos by Sawyer but had to terminate his trip in order to arrest the disease.

He said such response was significant and showed responsible leadership and patriotism.

Ohiaeri recollected and frowned on how Sawyer brought the dreaded disease to Nigeria, describing him as a liar and rude foreigner.

“We are grateful to Lagos Government for this kind gesture. In all, we must thank God that  Sawyer came to First Consultants, and that we had the presence of the personnel that were able to resist him, despite his pressure to leave. We also thank the federal government and Nigerians abroad for their contribution in containing the disease. But we must not allow this to happen again because there is no ‘big man’ in Ebola,” he warned.