Naima Usaini Yusuf and her classmate, Righteous Samuel Genesis, of Government Secondary School (GSS) Bukuru, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, have vividly explained why they returned the sum of two hundred and fifty naira (N250,000) they found on their school premises.
The students found the money during their break period and took the money to their teacher because according to them it is morally wrong to hide money that is not ours”
While narrating why they returned the money, Na’ima said “When we found the money, it didn’t occur to me that we should spend it because it wasn’t ours. I told my friend that we should look for the owner through the school.
My friend quickly responded that it was forbidden to share the money because it wasn’t from my sweat. That was why we returned the money to one of our teachers”
While responding to her thought to return the money, Righteous said ” I felt we should not spend the money because my parents always teach me that whenever I found something on the ground I should look for people around and give it to them to look for the owner. I know that it is not good to spend what doesn’t belong to me. I also believe that whatever is not mine, is not mine and will never be mine”
While narrating the decision to return the money, the students said “it was because of the teachings they received from their different religion and their homes, which has taught them to not keep what is not theirs”
Ezekiel Yerima, the teacher who the students returned the money to, said, ” I was surprised to see them returning a huge amount of money and asking me to look for the owner. When they brought the money, I was happy.
I started asking who lost money since it was found within the school premises.
Fortunately, the owner of the money was a teacher.
He explained to me beyond reasonable doubt and I become convinced that the money was his. I asked him to come with me to my office where I handed the money back to him”
The teacher also said even though he has not received his salaries for two months now, his conscience would have judge him if he did not find the owner.
However, In order to honour the students, a befitting reception was organised by the school authority to celebrate them, with many showering accolades for their actions, While others presented them with numerous gifts.
A word for the students.
