NOA presents award to airport cleaner for ‘returning N12m

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has awarded Josephine Ugwu, a female contract staffer of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, with the NOA Citizens’ Responsibility Award in recognition of her outstanding display of honesty.

Announcing the award in Abuja, Mike Omeri, the director-general of NOA, stated the agency was honouring the cleaner for returning the sum of N12 million stuffed in a bag forgotten by a traveller at the screening area of the airport.

He explained that Ugwu discovered the bag while cleaning the airport on January 10, 2015 and immediately reported it to her supervisor who in turn ensured that the owner was found and the money returned.

Omeri said that such honesty was typical of the true Nigerian and in line with the national core values as enshrined in the constitution.

“She is one of the many Nigerians who, through their noble character while performing their routine duties, show their commitment to the national pledge of faithfulness, loyalty and honesty. She deserves to be honoured and celebrated as an icon of doing the right thing,” he said.

Ugwu joins 15 other Nigerians who have received the NOA Citizens’ Responsibility Award for outstanding character, including seven police officers who investigated the Cynthia Osokogu murder case in 2013.