Ebola Survivor Dennis Akagha: "I've lost my job but must fulfil my promise to my late fiancée"

Dennis Akagha is one of the lucky survivors of Ebola. He was the fiancée of Late Justina Ejelonu who came in contact with Liberian, Patrick Sawyer on her first day working as a nurse at the First Consultant Hospital, Lagos. Dennis is now Ebola free but jobless now. He spoke to Punch about his plans. I intend to look for another job. If it’s the will of God for me to work, I will get another job. Aside from that, I made Justina a promise. I spoke with her the night she passed on but I had to go there to confirm the next morning. I had to go inside there after wearing the kits. I was led in and I held her hands, I just wanted to know if she was truly dead. The last day I saw her alive was three weeks today because she died on a Thursday morning. She requested to see me and I went inside to see her, cleaned her and made sure her surroundings were clean and okay. She was on drips and I spoke with her. She requested for tea, hot or cold. There was no way I could get hot water around so I went to get beverage and two bottles of table water to prepare the tea (beverage) for her. I also bought bread for her. That was the last thing I bought for her. I remember she said she loved me; that was the last thing she told me. After cleaning her up, she called on one of the doctors, a WHO doctor, Dr. David. She said softly to the doctor, did I not tell you? The doctor asked what. She said did I not tell you that if my husband comes here, a miracle would happen. I laughed and the doctor said yes. I had to clean her up that day.

On why he took risks cleaning her when he knew he could be infected you see, if you love someone, you will do those things, except you don’t genuinely love the person. If you genuinely love someone, you can do anything for the person. I genuinely loved her; she was supposed to be my wife. And at that point in time, I saw no reason why I should abandon her. I know most men would do that but my conscience would judge me for the rest of my life if I had run away. So I had to stand by her. I took the risks because I loved her and at a point, I started being careful at the same time. The Bible says wisdom is profitable to direct. But I had been 100 per cent exposed already even before I started taking precautions. I started using polythene bags as gloves, which was not even safe. Not that I didn’t think of the risks, but love is a very powerful thing. I know she would have done the same thing for me. So why would I want to run away? On how he received news of her death?

Normally, I call her every morning but that morning, I called and called and she didn’t pick up. So I went to the hospital and I was supposed to get some things for her anyway. So I got the news when I got there. It was painful for me. Have you lost a loved one before? At that moment, I felt like going with her. I felt that I couldn’t stay behind (on earth). I felt like dying so that it would be like we both died, although it was not possible (for me to kill myself). But that was how I felt.

At that time, she was already dead. I told her that I would make sure I pursued those things she could not achieve that I knew about, in my own little way and with the help of individuals. I would make sure she fulfils the dreams. Before her death, she had a vision of a project that I don’t want to share here. If that is what will keep me busy for the rest of my life, I don’t mind to keep her memory alive. I wrote the plan and we were just waiting to complete our marriage plans before proceeding with the project. After her death, I had to go back to my system (laptop) to fetch out those things and start reworking them. I’m done with writing the plan and the next step is to register the business. Private individuals who may want to support the cause since she died while trying to save lives, are welcome. I don’t mind since it will be in memory of Justina Obioma Ejelonu. Yes, a lot of people have been asking me, after now, what next? You have lost a loved one, you’ve lost your job and you’ve come out negative, what next and I tell them that it boils down to God.