In a country like Nigeria, a many
people were stunned when they heard an airport cleaner returned $28,000 she
found at the airport. It was like a fairy tale. “So we still have angels in
Nigeria”, somebody screamed in amazement.
According to Vanguard, “It started
with galore of scolding for Miss Josephine Agwu, a mere airport cleaner who
found forgotten $28,000 and other foreign currencies totaling about N12m and
refunded it to the owner. Some called her dumb-ass, others referred to
her as silly, especially as the owner of the money showed how not to
appreciate goodness.
She became a subject of mockery,
both for people present at the airport who heard of it, and notably on some
social media platforms. But Miss Agwu held herself with satisfaction that she
did the right thing. Now, her saintly gesture is being appreciated.
Recognition and appreciation
The Lagos State House of Assembly,
last Monday, concluded plans to invite and honour her. And her employers have
increased her salary from a paltry N7,800 to N15,000 per month. And in her
words, “FAAN (Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria) said that they are going
to give me automatic employment, but I have not heard from them till now.”
And she added: “On the part of my
management, they are happy, all my supervisors. In short, they are doing good
things for me. Now, they carry me like egg, even my MD.”
Miss Agwu, a cleaner with Patovilki,
a concessionaire handling the cleaning of the Murtala Mohammed
International Airport, Ikeja Lagos, found the N12m while cleaning
a toilet near the screening point of the departure area of the airport,
and took it to the security post.
The owner later came and the
security returned the money to the owner and disclosed how Miss Agwu found the
money and brought it to them. After counting the money and it was complete the
owner simply looked at Agwu and walked away. This was the third time she was
returning lost bags containing huge sums of money.
For a cleaner who earns N7,800
monthly for a 12-hour day job, her act of integrity shocked many. The Lagos
State House of Assembly which just returned from recess has requested the Clerk
of the House, Mr Segun Abiru, to invite Miss Agwu to the House. Deputy Whip of
the House, Honourable Abiru Rotimi Abiru, had under Matter of Urgent Public
Importance, raised the issue which happened on January 23, 2015, calling
the attention of his colleagues to the fact that Miss Agwu was returning lost money
for the third time.
Company policy
The management of Patovilki, Miss
Ugwu’s employers, played a major role in influencing her action. The company
has an in-house policy to guide every of their employee working at the airport.
In an interview with Saturday Vanguard, Mrs. Eunice Anumudu, Manager,
Airport Zone, said: “Since the incident, people have been reacting to it and
they have been praising her for what she has done, and that she did well and
several people have been calling her.”
According to Mrs. Anumudu, “My own
impression as a manager is that she did well because that is what we told them
at the initial time that she was searching for the job. We told her that as you
are looking for this job, the salary is too small. Can you do the work? She
said ‘yes’, so we told her that anywhere we put you, you have to behave well
because this is an airport. We have many ogas here, you don’t know who
is who. If they ask you question that you cannot answer, you look for the
supervisor or the manager to answer the question.”
Mrs. Anumudu continued: “Wherever we
post you and anything that you see there, don’t take it home. Take it to the
security because that thing does not belong to us. It is the passenger that has
it. You know, some of the passengers, when they travel, some of them will leave
their bags and sometimes phones in the toilet.
“So, we told them to behave well,
respect everybody. Since this incident happened, she has not been promoted to a
supervisor or other higher position, but we contacted our Managing Director and
what she did was to increase her salary. The MD was happy about what Miss
Josphine Ugwu. She has agreed to increase her salary from N7,800 to N15,000.”
Certainly, not every of the employee
so briefed would have returned the money, which also portrays Miss Ugwu as an
exceptional person.
Sense of fulfillment
Speaking also with Saturday
Vanguard, the beautiful lady, Josephine Ugwu, who has been catapulted to
limelight, relived the experience that day: “I am from Enugu State, from
Obonkpa in Nsukka Local Government. I live at Agbotukunyo in Agege. The
incident happened on the 23rd of January 2015. I was on morning duty. So as I
was sweeping around 6:30pm, I saw the bag on the ground and there were some
passengers there so I thought that the bag could belong to one of them. But as
I closed at 7:20pm, the person to relieve me on duty came that time.”
“I was going to the toilet again, I
saw the same bag there. Then I told the passengers sitting there that they
should be mindful of the bag because once they announce the flight they may
forget it. They replied that the bag did not belong to them. Three of
the passengers left, so I then picked the bag and took it to the FAAN security
people. At first, they put the bag on the screening machine, before they opened
the bag and discovered that there were many envelops in the bag containing
money in different currencies including dollars.”
“As they were counting it, I saw an
NDLEA woman accompanied by one man and both of them were coming towards us.
They said that the man could be the owner of the bag. So when they came in,
they interviewed the man and the man mentioned the amount of money and the
colour of the bag. Before then, they had counted the money and it was exactly
the amount that the man said.”
“Then they carried the money and
gave to the man for him to count. After counting, they asked him if the money
was complete, he said yes and they snapped him picture. They asked him again
about three times and they told the man that, ‘look at the woman that picked
your bag’, and the man was looking at me. His name is Mr. Obinna Samuel. They
told him that he should thank his God that if it were another person, that
person would have run away with the bag but this woman didn’t do that. So I
left and the man took the money and put inside the bag and went away.”
“Then FAAN security personnel called
me back, and they took my number On-Duty-Card (ODC) and my name. That was how
it happened. People are praising me, FAAN said that they are going to give me
automatic employment but I have not heard from them till now.”
Miss Ugwu is aware of how she is
being viewed by some Nigerians. She was reported to have advised: “People
should appreci ate what they have. People do a lot of bad things because they
are not happy with what they have. With the little I earn, I try to manage it
well. If I can’t manage that small money that I earn, even if I begin to earn
N1 million, I will still not know how to manage it.
“So, I am telling every Nige rian
to be happy in any situation they find themselves. Don’t be faster than your
shadow because so many things will go wrong. Sometimes things get bad because
people want to be like others. All fin gers are not equal. It is true that God
promised those who serve him riches, but people should be careful how they go
about it. I am telling people to have pa tience. It is because people want
quick money that is why some people become thieves.
She concludes: “On the part of my
management, in fact they are happy, all my supervisors. In short they are doing
good things for me, even they are carrying me like egg, even my MD. They have
added money to my salary. In short, my manager, Madam Eunice has been doing
many things for me since the incident, praising me. She said that she knows
that she can trust me, and that I cannot see anything that does not belong to
me and I take it away.”
Whatever we do wherever we are, it pays to be faithful; especially in marriage. The things you do when nobody is around or looking tells a great deal about your character and who you are. Indeed, we all can be angels too, if we choose to just as Josephine Agwu did.