Uncommon blessing

It started with galore of scoldings 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.”

-Vanguard