Airport cleaner, an Igbo woman Josephine Ugwu paid N7,800 a month saw forgotten N12 Million and returned it to the owner

www.odogwublog.com reports that the notion that Igbo women love money has been proven not to be true as this woman explains in her story after she returned N12 Million forgotten in a toilet by somebody.........................

If your monthly salary was N7800 and you picked up N12 million, what would you do?

Most people would not spare a minute pondering that question. They would simply resign and quietly relocate to another part of the country to savour their newfound ‘good life.’

But not one unusual woman, Josephine Ugwu, a cleaner at the Murtala Muhammad Interna­tional Airport (MMIA) in Lagos. She found a whopping sum of N12 million (in foreign curren­cies) and returned the whole amount to the owner, who just said thank you and walked away. For her rare honesty and integri­ty, she has been adjudged one of the finest, not just of Nigerians, but of mankind.

Ugwu works 12 hours daily for Patovilki, a cleaning agen­cy contracted to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and earns a paltry N7800 monthly. On January 23 as she worked, this young woman found a bag containing large sums of money in different currencies.

“That particular day, I was doing morning shift. As I was cleaning, I saw the bag on the floor where passengers were waiting. Because some passen­gers were still there, I thought that it belonged to one of them. So, I left it there.

“Around 7:20pm when I closed and was about to leave, I saw the bag again still in the same position. I then told the passengers there to take note of the bag so they will not forget. The passengers said it didn’t belong to them. So, I had to take the bag to the security point.”

Ugwu did not even wait to check the content of the bag, though she knew whatever was inside was of immense value.

“If I had an intention to steal, I would have taken that bag be­cause I knew it contained money. But I could not do it. That is why I took it to the security point at the airport. After they scanned the bag, the security men then opened it and counted the mon­ey. The money was in different currencies. They said it was a total of N12 million.

“After sometime, the owner of the bag came to the post to ask for the bag. The security men in­terrogated him to make sure that he was the owner and when they were satisfied, they gave him the bag. He counted the money again and said it was complete. Then they told him that I was the person who picked the bag. They even told him that he was lucky that I was the one that saw the bag; that if it were some other people, they would not have returned it. The man thanked me and left,” she said.

By the time the news filtered through the airport facility, a lot of people who heard about it said it was foolish on Ugwu’s part to have returned that much money. Some even said that she threw away God’s blessing.

But for Ugwu, there is no regret. She may not be rich, but her reputation and that of her em­ployer was of utmost importance to her. According to her, there are things money cannot buy.

“I have no regret because it is not the first time I would return people’s money. I returned such bags two times in December last year. I was not tempted because they were not mine. The devil will always tempt someone to do what is bad. But I believe in God and what he is capable of doing. So, I trust in him. In fact people have been telling me that by find­ing the money God had already blessed me but that I did not appreciate what God did for me. If I had taken that money I could have damaged the name of my company, and my family name. It is also about the family I came from. I was taught not to take what does not belong to me.”

In the face of high cost of liv­ing, how does she manage with a monthly pay of N7800? She said: “It is not easy, but I manage.”

She has a piece of advice for Nigerians, especially those who are struggling daily to eke out a living. “People should appreci­ate 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 Nige­rian to be happy in any situation they find themselves. Don’t be faster than your shadow because so many things are going wrong and that is because people want to be like other people. All fin­gers 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 pa­tience. It is because people want quick money that is why some people become thieves.

“Personally, I told myself that I would not disappoint the company that I am working for. I decided a long time ago that I would not disappoint my family and myself. I want a good name for myself.”

A native of Obukpa in Nsukka Local Government of Enugu State, Ugwu’s life has been syn­onymous with struggles. She lost both parents while she was still a baby. “I was just eight months when my parents died, as I was told. It was my father’s elder sister that raised me. I grew up with her.”

At 12, she became a maid. “When I was 12, I went to Onitsha to serve as a maid. After some time, I came back to the village and started school. After school, I went to Enugu to stay with my brother. Someone got me a job at Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company (ANA­MMCO). Later I started working at Enugu Airport.

“While at Enugu Airport, I worked as a casual staff with Aero Contractors. When they were renovating the airport, we were all sacked, and I decided to come to Lagos. A friend invited me and that was how I started working with Patovilki, a clean­ing agency.

“The company has been good to me despite the fact that the pay is small. Here, we have good working relationships with our supervisors. They are always advising us to be of good conduct. They will say. ‘you know this salary is small, but if you do your work very well, it will benefit you. If someone comes to use the toilet and finds it clean, some passengers can dash you money.’ And they warn us against taking people’s things that they have forgotten. I am praying that nobody will pull this company down in Jesus name. But the company should please increase our salary; it is too small,” she begged.

Her supervisor, Mrs. Eunice Anumudu praised Ugwu’s exemplary conduct. “I am not surprised because that is what we  have been telling them. ‘Any­where you are working and you see any lost items, bring them to security people.’ When they came here looking for job, I told them that the salary is poor and asked if they are going to do it. They said yes. I told them they have to behave well because this place is very big. There are many ogas here because we are a contractor to FAAN; any ques­tion the travellers ask you and you don’t know, look for your supervisor or manager and the person will answer the question. At the departure hall, passengers forget a lot of things. If you see anything, take it to the security point.’

“She is a good woman. She has been picking so many things, which we have given to security people. Some passengers some­times forget their bags inside the toilet. They forget a lot of things while waiting for their flights. I am very happy about what she did,” Anumudu said.

Written by Patience Egwuwa of the Sunday Sun