Sanjay Manley was a man for all seasons. He was an all purpose man. A coach, a teacher, a mentor, and a father to many. Indeed, he has left an indelible stamp on August Town Primary School and the entire August Town community.
For more than twenty years, he made the motto come alive – “preparing for the future.” He helped to prepare countless young boys and girls for life beyond the school and their immediate environs. Mr. Manley was a partner with us at Each One Reach One Foundation. For nearly a decade, he would ensure that students from August Town Primary would apply for our scholarships and bursaries. We could count on Sanjay to send to us students who were deserving of the assistance. He took on the welfare of his students as if they were his children, and they all were his children. He embraced his work at August Town Primary with pride and perseverance.
The Foundation will miss his tireless devotion to his students, his compassionate concern for their welfare and his consistent help in their achievement of excellence. A proud Calabar lion, he never settled for mediocrity and passionately lived out the creed of his alma mater – The Utmost for the Highest. The final stanza of his school song ends:
“So today and oh, if ever, duty’s voice is ringing clear, bidding men to brave endeavor, we will answer we are here, come what will, good or ill. We will answer we are here.”
You always answered the call of duty. He surely left more than he took from this life. Mr. Manley’s passing has left a trail of teary eyes and heavy hearts but also a legacy of sacrificial service and love for a school and a community that made him an icon to his children and their parents and has immortalized him in every life that he has touched that now carries on.
We end with the Irish blessing, “may the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sunshine warm upon your face. May the rains fall upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of His hand. “
Here Sir!
