Sometime in 2007, this man, Mr. Imeh Usuah, returned a sum of 18 million naira mistakenly left in his cab by two foreigners he picked up from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, on their way to a hotel. For his honesty, he was given recognition awards from various bodies and even 30, 000 naira as gift. . . but he should've gotten more.
The REAL award, which was supposed to remain with him forever, cause a national character orientation among young people, and remain as a legacy for his generations down the line as a sign of true honesty and
integrity, was instead given to another person who personally didn't have a choice in the matter.
This man:
Mohammad Zakari of the Federal Ministry of Information got the national award of Member of the Federal Republic (MFR) for returning 6 million naira which had been wrongly credited to his account. . .
Leaving Mr Usuah with what I consider a lesser recognition. He should've gotten the MFR, as a reminder to youths that honesty pays, but Zakari was roundly applauded by high ranking dignitaries, complimented by
everyone, and even given a handshake by the president during the award presentation. . .
. . . For returning money which he couldn't have kept, even if he wanted to. You see, Zakari's test of honesty was of a lesser note. because the bank could easily have traced that money to his account and cut off his
scalp had he kept it.
And I think he knew it., hence his 'act of honesty and integrity'
The man (Usuah) who could have kept a much higher figure - and easily gotten away with it - but decided against it (something I consider as a great act of honesty) was instead relegated to the background.
The government saw his action as inferior to that of Zakari, otherwise he should have been the one to get the MFR. What the FG have done is tell Nigerians: "If you see a gazillion naira that doesn't belong to you, sitting
snugly on your property. . . GRAB IT! 'cos if you return it, your government's not going to smile at you."
If your account gets over credited, you don't need a soothsayer to tell you that you can't keep the money, 'cos the bank's going to get it back, anyway. So, because you don't want the police beating down your door
one night, you return the money, go back to your home and continue your life. . . and BANG! You're a Member of the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!
Now, I have nothing against Zakari, and I'm not saying he didn't deserve it (he's probably a real honest man), but in the context of the scenario above, much noise and a higher significant award of MFR should have gone to Usuah, not Zakari.
Giving something as hallowed as the MFR should take careful thought, analysis and extreme consideration, to make sure that the right people receive the national award.
Even though the National Orientation Agency (NOA) rewarded Usuah with the paltry sum of 30, 000 naira after a damning report on the integrity of Nigerians by the Economist edition, titled, "Reforming the Unreformable" surfaced, and ThisDay realized the FG's error same time as I did, pointing it out in their article of 20th September, 2012, titled, "One Missing Hero At The National Awards", and causing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reward Usuah with 2.5 million naira. . . FIVE years after his act of integrity. . .
WE'RE STILL NOT PLACATED!
The Federal Government of Nigeria erred. . . as they are often wont to do, and they've refused to acknowledge it. And you know what that means?
It means they're going to do it again!. . . at the next National Awards!!
6 million naira and 18 million naira. . . plus a chance to get away with it?
. . . you do the maths.
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