Covid-19 Task Force and Makinde’s choice of Prof Alonge

That  Oyo State, like  some other states, has constituted a task force in response to the coronavirus  outbreak in Nigeria is no more news. But the quality of personnel put together by Mr. Seyi Makinde, the state governor, is worthy of commendation.

The proactive governor couldn’t have done less than raising a team of shrewd professionals to help secure the state from the spread of the virus. Good-spirited people in the state were not disappointed with  the appointment of Prof. Temitope Alonge as a member of the Oyo State Covid -19 Task Force.

While the governor leads the team as a bureaucrat, the team of medical professionals are led by Professor Alonge, the immediate past Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the premier teaching hospital in Nigeria, the University College Hospital (UCH). Other erudite medical personnel in the team include Dr Femi Adesanya, Dr. Gbolahan, and the state’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Rasheed Bello among others.

Governor  Makinde, during the trying period of his treatment after testing positive to Covid -19, found Professor Alonge worthy of holding the forte for him as team leader and he never regretted doing so, considering the quantum of work he did while in charge. This was acknowledged by the governor when he resumed work as head of the task force.

People in the state, philanthropists and the media commended the governor for putting  Alonge in charge for the mean time. Alonge did not disappoint the governor and the good people of Oyo State in discharging his duties as team leader. He spent almost three quarter of a day at the Infectious Disease Centre, Olodo, in Ibadan to ensure that the centre was put in a proper shape to cater for testing, isolation and medical needs of persons that tested positive to coronavirus.

The team under Alonge was able to deliver on their word to open the IDC, Olodo for operation on Monday which was declared fit for usage by Governor Makinde who was impressed by the level of readiness.

Various socal organisations, professional bodies, notable individuals that visited the centre commended the proactive steps taken by the Oyo State Task Force on Covid -19 then headed by  Professor Alonge.

A typical example is the Ibadan Solidarity Group (ISG) which lauded the level of doggedness of Professor Alonge and other members of the Oyo task force in ensuring that the pandemic does not spread in the state and taking adequate care of identified victims.

The ISG  said the level of administrative and professional deepennings deployed by the state task force under Alonge at the Infectious Disease Centre, Olodo, Ibadan cannot be over-emphasised.

Procurement of necessary medical equipment, beddings and other facilities, electrical and other fittings and conducive environment for both patients and care givers by Team Alonge could not be overemphasised.

The satisfaction expressed by Governor Makinde over the level of readiness of the centre by the team that held forth for him, put to rest the agitation in some quarters that the governor should have appointed a virologist instead of Alonge to hold the forth for him.

Little did they know that someone of Professor Alonge’s professional stature, having successfully managed a medical institution and facility as enirmous as the UCH should have requisite knowledge of other areas of medicine outside his/ her speciality.

Professor Alonge’s level of emergency responsiveness and preparedness for such pandemic magnitude was appreciated and Governor Makinde was highly eulogized for finding Professor Alonge worthy of leading the team in Oyo State while he was under treatment.

Professor Temitope Alonge graduated from the Colllege of Medicine, University of Ibadan where he obtained his Bachelor of medicine and Bachelor of Surgery Degree (MBBS) in 1983.

In April 1991, he became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (FRCS) Edinburgh, and Fellow, West African College of Surgeon, FWACS (Orthopaedics and Trauma) in April 1994).

His passion for the care of patients in his country prompted him to return to Nigeria in 1995 on completing his post-graduate training in orthopaedics and trauma surgery in England. He popularized the concept of plate and screw fixation of fractures using the AO techniques and also designed the Alonge –Wale intra-operative antibiotic bead makers which made beads making easier.

• Lekan Olawoyin, a public commentator sent this piece from Abuja

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