NOT all heroes wear capes and Adebayo Oladejo, a journalist based in Lagos, who noticed after 3 hours that a sum of eighteen thousand nairas was dispensed to him in error by an innocent POS operator around Charly Boy area, Lagos and returned to the place to return it, spending money on bikes is the perfect example of this saying.
According to the Journalist, he needed twenty thousand and branched at the POS terminal beside the busy Charly Boy Bus-Stop, but to his dismay, he discovered after about three hours that the Operator instead of deducting 20, 200, with the two hundred nairas as services charge, only deducted 2, 200, leaving a shortage of 18, 000.
Immediately I noticed the error, I became uncomfortable and I said to myself, how do I pretend all is well with me when someone somewhere would possibly be in sorrow because of my wickedness. I knew I didn’t steal the money from him, but I still feel bad that he was going to suffer a loss that I could easily prevent.
So, I said to myself, let me be a good example to my generation. Nigeria will be a better country if we all decide to set a good example and become good ambassadors. Although, when I calculated what it would cost me to go back, I was discouraged, I asked myself, can the money solve my challenge, so I braced up, and went back not minding the cost?
On getting there, he was unsuspicious of what had happened to him, but after explaining to him, he was very happy and almost prostrated for me. He couldn’t believe someone in Nigeria could do that. He later prayed profusely for me.
According to Celestine Abbah, the POS operator, he came newly to Lagos and he is just getting used to the system, adding that he is managing the POS terminal for somebody for peanut as take home at the end of the month.
Abbah, a middle-aged man from Benue State said he has learnt his lesson adding that he will henceforth take time and won’t allow people to mount pressure on him.
Some customers at the scene, Olajuwon and Anne, who were impressed with the gesture of the Journalist offered to give him a free ride to his place of destination, adding that they were surprised that there are still good Nigerians, despite the situation of the country.
“It is not right to claim other people’s belongings. I did this because it was the right thing to do,” he said.
The 40-year-old journalist works with Pharmanews, a frontline health journal in the country and he is married with kids.
