A Nigerian airport cleaner, Auwal Ahmed Dangode, has attracted public admiration after returning the sum of 10,000 US Dollars (approximately FCFA 5.9 million) he discovered in a plane.
Dangode, an employee of the Nigeria Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) working at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, discovered the money on Wednesday while cleaning the cabin of an Egyptian airline plane.
Nigerian security analyst and counter-insurgency expert, Zagazola Makaman, said in a post on the X on Wednesday that Dangode presented the money to the airline company’s manager, who initiated a search for the owner.
He said the act was motivated by values of honesty and sincerity cultivated at home.
“I was conducting a routine cleaning of the aircraft that had just landed when I saw the money in an envelop. So, I picked the envelop and reported it to the airline company’s manager long before the rightful owner came and the money was returned,” The Guardian quotes Dangode saying.
He added: “I don’t take what does not belong to me. The money belong to the rightful owner is nothing to me because that was the training we got from home.
“At the same time I am happy when I know the value and the owner who does not understand Hausa as he spoke Arabic was so happy and hugged me many times.”
His act of honesty has garnered praise not only from his airport employers and fellow employees, but also from the public.
“Auwal’s actions serve as a shining example of the positive impact that even small acts of kindness can have,” Zagazola said.
