SANWO-OLU HONOURS COVID-19 FRONTLINE HEALTH WORKERS TO COMMEMORATE ONE YEAR IN OFFICE

As part of activities marking his first year in office, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu today honoured 10 frontline health workers who have distinguished themselves in the service ofthe State, especially in the on-going war against COVID-19 pandemic.

In his remarks before the presentation ofaward plaques to the health workers, Governor Sanwo-Olu said the government of Lagos will not wait till the eradication ofCOVID-19 before acknowledging the efforts and contributions of the healthworkers, who are the unsung heroes battling the global pandemic on behalf of other citizens, noting that the last 100 days would have been chaotic if not for the dedication and sacrifices made by the health workers.

He said, “The 10 of you here today are by no means the only people deserving of the honour but this is just a show of our appreciation for the effort you have put in so far. We are not out of it yet, but we will keep going. We certainly cannot wait until it is over before we begin to acknowledge our own (frontline health workers). That is why we are excited that your principals looked around and picked you for this honour”. 

“The awardees stand in the gap for other cadres of health workers at the frontline, including those at the primary, secondary and tertiary health facilities as well as the isolation centres across the State. All ofthem are deserving of our appreciation and commendation. The dedication of the healthworkers has increased their workload, especially at a difficult and trying time such as this”, he added.

While acknowledging that more needs to be done to revive the economy, Governor Sanwo-Olu gave an assurance that the lessons being learnt from the pandemic would be employed in developing the State post-COVID-19 era saying, “It is not only about COVID-19, but this is also about the whole health structure, about what we need to do and what we can learn from the Coronavirus pandemic and beyond”.

Earlier in his remarks, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, noted that a ceremony to honour health workers in commemoration of the first anniversary ofGovernor Sanwo-Olu’s administration is commendable and a morale booster forState health fraternity.

He stated that the Governor has once again demonstrated exemplary leadership as the Incident Commander of the COVID-19 battle in Lagos and a team player who appreciates the efforts of other players to achieve the desired result.

Abayomi averred that the Governor has demonstrated his leadership skills by leading from the front, visiting intervention and treatment sites and supporting all the noble initiatives of the Incident Command System.

“While we are recognising the frontlinehealth workers, I think it is important for us to establish that Mr. Governor himself is a chief frontline health worker. We really appreciate the role you have been playing. You have been in the frontline of the battlefield in so many ways; you have visited all the sites, you have been active and you have been exposed, these are true attributes of leaders that lead from the front”, he asserted.

Amongst those honoured are; Prof. Sunday Omilabu, an internationally renowned virologist, Principal Investigator at the Lagos State Biobank and Director, Centre for Human and Zoonotic Virology, College of Medicine, University of Lagos; Dr. Sunday Adesola, a Principal Medical Officer, who has contributed immensely to case management of COVID-19 at the Isolation Centre of Mainland Hospital Yaba and deployed to head the Onikan Isolation Centre and Mrs. Basirat Adeoye, the Apex Nurse at Mainland Hospital Yaba, 

Others are: Mr. Folarin Amosun, a Pharmacist from Lagos State Ministry ofHealth who has demonstrated immense logistics skills in managing the COVID-19 stores and ensuring an uninterrupted supply chain; Mr. Olufemi Akinade, a  hygienist/medical waste cleaner; Dr. Bisola Adebayo,  a Consultant Public Health and Community Medicine Physician and Lecturer at LASUTH/LASUCOM who has been coordinating contact tracing, case investigation and active case search; Mr. Olanrewaju Aladetuyi, a  Laboratory Scientist, known to carry out the highest manual extraction of samples (250) as part of RT-PCR for COVID-19; Mrs. Abiola Aduloju,  the Administrator of Mainland Hospital Yaba; Mr. Alaba Anago, an Ambulance Driver and Mr. Tajudeen Bankole, one of the Gatemen/Security officers at the  Mainland Hospital Yaba.