A journalist has expressed deep and sincere appreciation to Akinwunmi Ambode for his heartfelt and affectionate help that saved his life.
Alfred Ilenre
76-year-old veteran journalist, Alfred Ilenre has recounted how the amiable governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode saved him from death.
Ilenre, who is now Secretary General, Ethics Minority and Indigenous Rights Organisation of Africa, EMIRAF and Chairman, Coalition of Democratic Formation, spoke to journalists in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria to show appreciation to Ambode for coming to his aid.
On 12 June, 2015, during the celebration of June 12, Ilenre was supposed to deliver a goodwill message but as he approached the podium, he blacked out. Doctors revealed he had a collapse in his left lung, which could have killed him if not for prompt action by the governor who immediately detailed a medical doctor to take care of his health.
Ilenre had a collapse in his left lung, which doctors say could lead to the death of anyone at anytime. He stated that he got a call from one Dr. Adeboye who said the governor ordered her to know details of his health. He said 12 diagnostics were carried out on him to know his particular ailment, with the report forwarded to the governor.
Ilenre said he had a ghastly motor accident in 1997 on his way from Ghana to Benin to connect flight to Guinea Bissau for a conference, saying that the accident might have affected his lung.
“I never knew the governor before or had anything to do with him. What he did to me is great, I feel that I must let people know what the governor did for me.
“After the series of x-rays, I was told that my left lung has collapsed and that it can lead to one dropping dead at anytime,” he said.
He disclosed that he received treatment from the Beijing hospital in Ghana where he spent six weeks on intensive medical treatment where he was given the best, saying such treatment could not be quantified in monetary terms.
According him, for the governor to have saved his life by sending him to a Chinese hospital in Ghana for such treatment, he would never forget such gesture and thanked Ambode for the gesture extended to him.