THE RETURN OF $28,000 BY A MERE AIRPORT CLEANER MRS. J. AGWU

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, days ago, 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.

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 Mrs. Agwu 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 can not answer, you look for the supervisor or the manager to answer the question.”

She 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 Agwu did. As to motivate her, she has agreed to increase Mrs. Agwu salary from N7,800 to N15,000.”