27/09/2017

Ilaje community clamours for return of Itebu Manuwa to Ondo



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...ondo state mapThe people of Ilaje Community in Ondo South senatorial district have appealed to the Federal Government to relocate the Itebu -Manuwa community to Ondo State from Ogun State.
They maintained that the people of the Itebu-Manuwa are part of the Ilaje community of Ondo State, saying that ceding the community to Ogun State had adversely affected the psyche of the people in the entire south The President of Ilaje Medical Doctors Association, Dr. Elihu Medunoye, declared this in Akure during the first memorial lecture in honour of the first consultant- physician, late Sir Samuel Manuwa.
Medunoye who said: “We are in a country that swallows its giants,” describing the relocation of Itebu-Manuwa community to Ogun State as “a costly great injustice done to the Ilaje people,”
According to him, all efforts by Ilajes to reverse the injustice against the coastal communities of Ondo State proved abortive, saying this has led to the non-recognition of the contributions of the legendary genius, Manuwa, to the growth and development of Nigeria.
“In 2014, when 100 eminent Nigerians were honoured to mark the nation’s centenary, Sir Samuel Manuwa’s name was conspicuously absent. As a people, the Ilajes as a whole are baffled by this development.
“The psyche of the Ilaje people has been brutalised by the powers that be because of this monumental injustice.
“Could this be the reason many civil servants desist from dedicating themselves to their jobs because no one would accord them honour after leaving office?
“Could this be a reason some public office-holders believe that their office is their fiefdom and thus any official funding coming to the office is counted as their own pecuniary gain?” Medunoye querried.
Manuwa, an Ilaje man, hailed from Itebu-Manuwa in old Ondo province which was ceded through military fiat by past governments, particularly the colonial government to present day Ogun State.
Also speaking at the event, one of the daughters of Manuwa, Professor Aderonke Manuwa-Olumide, described his late father as a patriot, honest, hardworking, diligent and God-fearing man who lived his entire life for meritocracy and that confirmed being of Ilaje origin.
“We hereby make another call for an urgent posthumous national award to Sir Samuel Manuwa in recognition of his enormous contributions to national development.
“We also call for Itebu-Manuwa to be returned to Ondo State with our kith and kin. After all, blood is thicker than water,” he said.
Similarly, former Commissioner for Environment, Chief Sola Ebiseni, who was a delegate to the 2014 National Confab in Abuja, said the issue of reuniting Itebu-Manuwa with their kinsmen in Ondo was raised at the confab.
The memorial lecture themed: “Delivering comprehensive healthcare to difficult to reach riverine communities: Ilaje as a case study,” which commenmorates the 42nd anniversary of his death, he was conferred with the title of “Generalissimo of Orthodox Medicine in Black Africa.”
In his remarks, Chairman of the event, Professor Odunayo Oluwatosin Akinkugbe, noted that Manuwa deserved great honour more than what the country was giving him.
He, hoewver, assured that: “Sir Samuel Manuwa is not forgotten. We still remember him at the University of Ibadan. We remember him in the West African colleges.

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