NYSC member returns purse containing money misplaced by passenger

ANIEKAN UDONQUAK, City Press

A member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving in Akwa Ibom State has proved that a good name is much better than riches and has shown that there are still many Nigerians with integrity and good character despite the challenging times.

Ojeleye Timilehin Joseph, a batch ‘C’ stream 2 corps member from Oyo State serving in Akwa Ibom State where he was posted to Fortune Polytechnic in Uyo, the state capital found a misplaced purse containing “some cash, three cash cards popularly known as Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) cards, my driving licence and my voter’s card,’’ and promptly took steps to locate its owner without looking back.

According Eno Ekong, a retired officer of the NYSC, Ojeleye who picked the misplaced purse searched for her on social media platforms but he did not get any favourable response after he called the phone number shown on the social media pages.

Checks showed that he did not step there, he contacted the owner of the purse’s friend after two of them had recently appealed on a post about correct pronunciation online and got the lady’s correct phone number.

“To cut a long story short, the corps member returned the purse to me with everything intact,’’ Ekong said, adding that she was delighted to have had her purse with all the documents back.

‘’You can imagine how glad I am for such kindness, honesty and integrity on the part of the corps member, adding, there are still good, selfless young people out there in the country,’’ she added.

In an interview, Ojeyele, a who studied applied physics at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, Oyo state said he needed to be a good ambassador of the NYSC and the country adding that though he lacked money on that day where he found the purse, he was particular about his integrity and name.

“I believe if the money was meant for me, there would not be any means of identifying the owner of the purse for me to reach out to the owner. I have to be a good ambassador of the NYSC and the country at large.

“That very day I picked the purse I was in need of money, but I believed God was going to use another way to provide for my up-keep, since I believed the money was not meant for you.

He advised the youths not to be selfish and greedy and not to feel "comfortable at the end of others."

(ENDS)