Respiratory Physician, Administrator
Patrick Ebitari Tekenah was a renowned respiratory physician and a permanent secretary who contributed immensely to healthcare delivery and the public service sector of the old Rivers State and Bayelsa State for over three decades.
Who was Patrick Ebitari Tekenah?
Patrick Ebitari Tekenah (1948-2015) hailed from Okpoama, Abonnema, and Kula communities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Unassuming and humble to a fault, he was made a knight of St. Christopher in 2011. Patrick Ebitari Tekenah was a pioneer personal physician to the first military administrator of Bayelsa State and was later appointed Permanent Secretary in 1998. He earned his MBBS in 1974 from the prestigious University of Lagos, Nigeria, and later qualified as a pulmonologist from the University of Wales, United Kingdom, in the early 1980s. Sir Patrick Ebitari Tekenah was a blessed family architect and a model to many. He passed away in 2015 at the age of 67.
Parents
Patrick Ebitari Ikpo-Douglas (as he was first known) was the son of Joseph Ikpo-Douglas (late), who hailed from Kula and Abonnema communities in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State. His father was an accountant with the Nigerian Railways Corporation at the time, and his mother was the late Madam Serena Edah (Tekenah), who came from Nembe and Okpoama communities in the Brass district. She was a warden with the Nigerian Prisons Service.
Birth and Early Life
Patrick Ebitari Ikpo-Douglas was born on Tuesday, 16 May 1948, in the coastal town of Nembe in southern Nigeria. He was the first child of his parents and grew up with his widowed grandmother, the late Anya Lillian, in the Nembe and Okpoama communities in the Brass District of southern Nigeria. At one point, Patrick lived with his maternal uncle, Dennis Tekenah, who was a meteorological officer in Kumba, Cameroon. It was during his stay in Cameroon that his surname was changed from Ikpo-Douglas to Tekenah at the insistence of his maternal uncles, who were his benefactors at the time.
Education
Young Patrick Ebitari Tekenah began his educational journey in 1954 at St. Luke’s School, Nembe, but he unfortunately left in 1957. He continued his primary education at St. Mary’s School, Likumba, Cameroon, and at Yaba Model School, Lagos, between 1958 and 1961, where he obtained the First School Leaving Certificate. He then proceeded to the famous CMS Grammar School, Lagos (the oldest school in Nigeria), where he studied from 1962 to 1968 and earned his West African School Certificate (WASC) with a Division I. He also obtained the Higher School Certificate (HSC). In 1969, he was admitted to the University of Lagos to study Medicine at the Medical College, where he graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree. In 1984, he obtained a Diploma in Tuberculosis and Chest Disease from the University of Wales, Cardiff.
Career Life
Patrick Ebitari Tekenah started his medical career as a House Officer at the General Hospital Lagos from 1974 to 1975. He then served his compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) year from 1975 to 1976 at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Ugbowo, Benin.
From March to December 1977, he worked as a physician on the Florence Nightingale (Hospital Boat). The Rivers State Government, through the Hospital Management Board, employed him as a medical officer at the General Hospital Port Harcourt, where he worked from 1978 to 1979.
Work in the UK
From 1979 to 1985, Patrick worked in the United Kingdom at various hospitals in cities such as Sheffield, Liverpool, Cardiff, Middlesbrough, and London (West Middlesex Hospital, Hounslow). He was a flamboyant medical practitioner who lived up to the ethical standards of the medical profession.
Practice as a Chest Doctor
Subsequently, the Rivers State Government promoted him to Principal Medical Officer from June 1985 to around 1989, and he worked at the General Hospital, Emuoha, in the old Rivers State. He was later transferred to the Chest Clinic in Diobu, Port Harcourt, in 1989. In 1990, he was promoted to Chief Medical Officer of the Chest Clinic, Diobu, and served in that capacity until 1996. During the same period, he was also the Coordinator for the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme in Rivers State.
Pioneer Personal Physician
In 1996, when Bayelsa State was created from the old Rivers State, Patrick Tekenah transferred his services to Bayelsa State. He became the Chief Medical Officer at the Government House Clinic in Yenagoa and was appointed the pioneer personal physician to the military administrators of Bayelsa State (Navy Capt. Oladipo Philip Ayeni and Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade). He served in that capacity until early 1998 and was appointed Director-General of the Ministry of Health.
Appointed Permanent Secretary
In 1998, the military administrator, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade, appointed Patrick Tekenah as Permanent Secretary. He left his mark as Permanent Secretary in various ministries, including Health (1998 to 2001), Environment, Budget and Economic Planning (2001 to 2004), Commerce and Industry (2006 to 2007), and Works and Transportation (2007 to 2008). Patrick Ebitari Tekenah retired on 16 March 2008 after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60.
Life After Retirement
After retirement, life was far from dull for the exceptional Tekenah. Together with his wife, he ventured into agriculture and established Ebitari Farms along Imiringi Road, Yenagoa, in Bayelsa State. Before long, he was appointed Commissioner (I) in the Bayelsa State Civil Service Commission, serving from 2012 until his death in 2015.
Wife and Children
Patrick married his wife, Victoria, in 1977. Victoria Tekenah (Ph.D.) is an erudite scholar of education, a retired Permanent Secretary, and a current political appointee of the Bayelsa State Government. The couple had four children.
Community Service
While in active service, Patrick contributed to his community by aiding in the completion of health centers in Okpoama and Odioma. He also played a key role in upgrading the Okpoama Health Centre to the current Cottage Hospital. Additionally, during his tenure at the Ministry of Health, he provided potable water to Dikumama, Iseeleama, and Diema Primary Schools in Okpoama Kingdom through the United Nations Children’s Fund Neighborhood Scheme. Furthermore, he single-handedly trained the current mortuary attendants of Okpoama Kingdom.
His Faith
Born into a religious family, Patrick’s Christian background influenced all aspects of his life, including his marriage, career, parenting, and relationships with others. He was a devout Anglican and, in 2001, was knighted in the Order of St. Christopher. He served as the Diocese’s President of the Council of Knights from 2011 to 2014.
Patrick was also a member of several professional and religious institutions, including:
- Elder, Nigerian Medical Association
- State Patron of the Boys Brigade until his death
- People’s Warden and Treasurer at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Diobu, Port Harcourt (Nembe section)
- Member of the Steward Guild at St. Peter’s Deanery, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State
- Member of the Lesser and Greater Chapters of the Cathedral Church of St. Luke’s, Nembe
- Former PCC member at St. Peter’s Deanery, Yenagoa
- Member of the Men’s Christian Association at St. Peter’s Deanery, Yenagoa Cathedral, and St. Paul’s Deanery, Okpoama.
His Miracle
While in the United Kingdom, Patrick worked at West Middlesex Hospital in Hounslow, London, and at hospitals in Sheffield, Liverpool, and Middlesbrough. In May 1983, at the age of 35, he was diagnosed with an intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke—a rare and severe medical condition involving a ruptured blood vessel in the brain. If he survived surgery, doctors predicted that he would live for no more than five years. Despite the grim prognosis, Patrick survived the stroke and lived for more than three decades.
His Tragedy
In May 2011, disaster struck when Patrick’s third child and first son, Ebitari, was found dead in his residence in Sheffield, United Kingdom. Ebitari, aged 27, worked with BOC Group, a multinational British-based industrial gas company, and had been preparing to move to Scunthorpe before his tragic death. His passing left Patrick devastated, as he was deeply fond of his son. It is believed that this loss may have contributed to Sir Patrick Ebitari Tekenah’s own death on 2 April 2015.
Last Moments and Death
On 2 April 2015, while conducting statewide promotion interviews, Patrick collapsed and was rushed to Diete Koki Memorial Hospital in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, possibly due to a cardiac arrest.
He was laid to rest a month later, on 2 May 2015, at his “Beulah Land” residence in his hometown of Okpoama in the Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. He was 67 years old.
