It was on March 24, 2024, when I got the sad news about the death of my brother, Ambassador John Tia Akologu, and just as I was putting myself together to overcome the unfortunate event, came another unpleasant news. This times, my father in the Upper West Region, Sir Dr Edward Nwinyuor Gyader, a medical gem, is dead.
His death was announced by Mr Bernard Mornah, flagbearer of the People’s National Convention (PNC) on a TV3 New Day morning platform. Oh How? I exclaimed in utmost disbelief at the news. The sad event occurred on Wednesday, July 10, 2024 at the Wa Regional Hospital. Moments later, the phone calls started pouring in from all over the country about the demise of my father.
Dr Gyader was not just a household word in the Upper West Region in particular and the country at large, but within the medical profession, the world over.
In one of our usual conversations, Dr Gyader told me of how he had to abandon his initial idea of joining the military to respond to a call by the late Peter Cardinal Dery, who had secured scholarship for him and others to study medicine in Italy.
Dr Gyader attended University of Bologna, Italy, where he obtained Medical Degree (M.D) in February, 1972. He proceeded to the University of Padua, Italy, and obtained a Specialist Degree in General Surgery in 1977.
Dr Gyader returned to Ghana as a General Surgeon Specialist in 1978. Though his calibre were few in the country then, he refused postings to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. While working at these medical facilities, he could have made money for himself just like some of his colleagues.
Instead, Dr Gyader, son of a peasant farmer from Nandom-Piiri in the Nandom District of the Upper West Region, decided to return to his home region, where he headed the Jirapa Catholic Hospital, from May 1978 to 1982.
In July 1982, the early days of the 31st December Revolution, a disagreement between the revered doctor and the Workers Defence Committee (WDC) which later became Committee for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR) of the hospital, led to his leaving to Burkina Faso, where he became the Surgeon In-Charge of Gaoua Hospital.
In April 1985, when things had normalised, there were appeals from medical colleagues and prominent people to Dr Gyader, to return home and practice, since health professionals refused postings to the region because it was remote and deprived.
Consequently, he returned to Ghana and became the Medical Director of the Wa Regional Hospital, a position he held until September, 2004, when he attained the retirement age of 60.
Yes, he had retired but was not tired. Just a month later, in October, 2004, he was appointed Deputy Director In-Charge of Clinical Care at the Wa Regional Hospital, a position he held for four years, bowing out in April, 2008.
At this point, many thought that at 64, he was going to take a rest, but that was not to be. It was the time, the School of Medicine and Health Service (SMHS) of the University for Development Studies (UDS) was facing challenges of getting the full complement of lecturers and other facilities to effectively run the SMHS. The UDS arranged to run some aspects of its SMHS programmes at the University of Ghana, Legon, and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
As a result, the then Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama of blessed memory, set up a committee to look into the matter and make appropriate recommendations on the way forward.
The committee recommended the closure of the SMHS of the UDS stating the lack of resources, facilities and required lecturers, among others.
Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, then Minority Leader, and now Speaker of Parliament, intercepted the report and granted an exclusive interview to The Ghanaian Times (the Author of this Tribute), saying any attempt by the government to close the SMHS of the UDS would be fearlessly resisted.
Following the publication of the story by The Ghanaian Times, the Press Secretary to the Vice President, Mr Andrew Awuni, called a press conference and gave the assurance that there were no plans to close the SMHS of the UDS.
It was in the midst of all these, that Dr Gyader was invited to take up the mantle to bring an end to the matter. In May 2008, Dr Gyader was appointed Dean and Senior Lecturer of the SMHS of the UDS, the first in the history of the country for someone to head a medical school of a public university after the mandatory retirement age of 60, especially at age 64.
When the news broke out about his new role, lecturers in the medical field started trooping to the UDS to take up appointments in the SMHS and in no time, the SMHS of the UDS got the requisite personnel. Today, the UDS is one of the best medical schools in the country with its doctors spread across various parts of the country, thanks to Dr Gyader.
Ironically, at the time of the passing out of the first batch of doctors under Dr Gyader, the man who fought for the stay of SMHS of the UDS, Mr Bagbin, who was then the Minister of Health, was the guest of honour at the ceremony. It was a delight to see the two sons of the Upper West Region who played leading roles in ensuring the progress of the SMHS of the UDS, graced the graduation ceremony of the doctors trained under Sir Dr Gyader.
He had been a General Surgeon Specialist for more than 42years and had always been meticulous and paid uncompromising attention to details. This professional traits made him unique and special not only among his clients and colleagues, but also among the medical community, the world over.
As a result, Dr Gyader was honoured with a national award, grand medal Ghana, in 2005, profiled by the World Health Medical Association and listed among 65 most caring Physicians of the World. He was knighted by Saint Pope John Paul II (Knight of St. Sylvester).
Similarly, he was the winner of the Director General of the Ghana Health Service National Special Award in 2004. He won the Award of the Medical and Dental Council in 2006 and Meritorious Award, UDS, 2015.
Dr Gyader was enstooled development chief of Dormaa, in the Bono Region, with the stool name Nana Minta I, Sompehene of Domaa Aduana.
He was a Member of the Council of State from 2013 to 2016.
This is the Medical Gem, who fathered me for 25 years. I came into contact with him in the course of my work when I was posted to the Upper West Region in February 1999 as the Regional Correspondent of The Ghanaian Times.
For the first three months, I had done eight stories on Dr Gyader, all of which were carried on the front page. All this while I had not been in personal contact with him. I knew him from afar but he just did not know me.
On one fateful evening, at about 4:00pm while at home, I heard the sound of a car which stopped by my house. I looked through the window and lo and behold that was Dr Gyader. I went out and met him and after exchanging pleasantries he expressed appreciation for the stories done on him and assured me of further collaboration.
“My son, I do not talk only medicine, I will from time to time look for you to state my position on national policies and programmes and issues that affect the ordinary people,” he told me. The rest belongs to history.
Sir Dr Gyader responded to the call of his maker. Admittedly, nobody can refuse or resist the call of the Lord. However, what I cannot comprehend is the failure of my father, to give notice of his decision to respond to the call of no return. Nonetheless, I take consolation in the fact that he died in the hands of Dr Robert Amesiya, Medical Director of the Wa Regional Hospital, who drew inspiration and mentorship from the revered Sir Dr Gyader.
BY MATTHEW AYINNE AYOO