While some Nigerians commended his honesty, others called him a fool, considering the fact that the taxi driver wasn't too financially buoyant himself.
Coupled with the fact that, until recently he hasn't been rewarded for his good deed.
Mr Usuah was awarded by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and given a token amount of N30,000. An amount which many criticized as being to small.
Luck however smiled on Mr Imeh Usuah on Tuesday, as he emerged the winner of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) maiden Integrity Award. Usuah was awarded a plaque and N2.5 million ($15,860) for his honesty.
Usuah, accompanied by his wife Mercy was celebrated by the capital market community for returning N18 million forgotten in his taxi cab in 2007 by a customer.
Usuah a former workshop foreman with Julius Berger Plc had earlier been acknowledged and commended by four different groups in the country.
Ms Arunma Oteh, the Director- General of SEC said that the award was the commission’s contributions toward the promotion, recognition and reward for integrity.
“Usuah’s exemplary act of honesty and integrity had sprinkled a burst of refreshing dew upon the national consciousness,” Oteh said.
She said that “the integrity award is a careful response to a critical need of the Nigerian society, as it is through it that trust is built and sustained.”
In his response, Usuah, a native of Ubokudom in Akwa Ibom, commended the commission for the gesture and devoted the award to the “unsung honest and committed Nigerians across the country.”
We commend Akwa Ibom-born Usuah, A struggling taxi driver, close to 70 years in age, with a large family of 6, laboriously struggling to make ends meet, and yet without compromising morals.
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