The Director-General of West Africa Health Organisation (WAHO), Prof. Stanley Okolo, has dedicated his National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) Award to all affected by the COVID-19 in the region.
Okolo, made the disclosure in an Interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Accra, on the sideline of the 23rd Ordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Assembly of Health Ministers (AHM).
NAN reports that Okolo was among several Nigerians conferred with the NPOM Award by President Muhammadu Buhari at an elaborate ceremony on Thursday in Abuja, for his immense contributions to the health sector in Nigeria and West Africa
Okolo is a professor of Gynaecology and former Consultant Gynecologist at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust in London, UK.
He was recognised for facilitating the establishment of a WAHO supplies distribution hub in Nigeria in the aftermath of the outbreak of COVID-19.
The hub has distributed over 150 tonnes of critical materials including diagnostic kits, personal protective equipment and ventilators to ECOWAS Member States.
The D-G said that the award was for all the hardworking staff of WAHO, its partners, collaborators, and particularly for all frontline staff who lost their lives fighting to save the public during disease outbreaks in the region.
He said that the award was a call for even greater sacrifice in the service of the country’s until Nigeria and indeed, the West Africa region becomes an established health tourism destinations.
Okolo was appointed to head WAHO in 2018, as one of Nigeria’s statutory appointees to ECOWAS.
He has championed several financial governance initiatives and positioned WAHO globally as West Africa’s regional health institution, with prestigious roles as one of the advisers of the London 2021 G7 summit.
He also pushed for and achieved WAHO’s membership of the Commonwealth Advisory Committee on Health.
Okolo also successfully negotiated the ECOWAS harmonised agreements on regional travel during the pandemic.
He is currently driving the agenda for local production of vaccines in the region.
NAN reports that the 19th National Productivity Day and the conferment of the National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) Award took place at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Nigeria.
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No fewer than 49 other eminent Nigerians and organisations in both the public and private sectors were conferred with awards for their high productivity, hard work and excellence.
