President Muhamadu Buhari recently honored some Nigerians who have shown that a good name is better than gold. Of course, national awards are opportunities to melt down the cultural, tribal and ethnic differences and blend all to national unity. The honorees came from both the public and private sector and the general public. These included people like senate president, Senator Ahmed Lawan, the Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, Prof Tijani Mohammed Bande, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Tanko Mohammed, Hajia Amina Mohammed, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, Tony Elumelu, Herbert Wigwe and others.
Senator Lawan, Justice Ariwoola, Prof Bande, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, AlhajiMohammed and Hajia Mohammed were all conferred with Grand Commander of the Niger (GCON)
Some senior public officials were awarded Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) .Those were 54 in number among them are the late Abba Kyari, former Chief of Staff; the late Ibrahim Attahiru, former Chief of Army Staff; Monica Dongban-Mensem, President of the Court of Appeal; Oladayo Amao, Chief of Air Staff, Isah Jere Idris, the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa, among others.
Others are Commander of the Order of the Niger, CON, 67; Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic, OFR, 64; Officer of the Order of the Niger, OON, 101; Member of the Order of the Federal Republic, MFR, 75; Member of the Order of the Niger, MON, 56; and Federal Republic Medal, FRM 8.
Among these was the Imam who sheltered more than one hundred Christians in his compound, saving their lives from Boko Haram people.
Among them also were two ordinary, everyday people of sterling character: a security guard, Mallam Musa Usman, from Jigawa State; a cleaner, Ms. Josephine Agu, from Imo State, and a bank security guard, Ogbanago Muhammed Ibrahim, were on the list of 437 nominees for the 2022 National Honours Awards. They were awarded Federal Republic Medal (FRM) II.
Agu works as a cleaner at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja. She’s being rewarded for her honesty and integrity in returning $12,200 she found in a toilet at the airport, ditto Ibrahim who found and returned $10,000.
In a similar development, President Buhari also presented SP Daniel Amah with a Public Service Integrity Award for displaying exceptional courage and integrity in the discharge of his duties. Amah, an indigene of Plateau State, received the award by President Buhari in Abuja at the 4th National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the Public sector, with the theme, “Corruption and the Education Sector.
Amah, a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Bompai Kano, rejected $200,000 bribe to sweep under the carpet a case involving one Mr Ali Zaki, a bureau de change operator, who connived with other criminally minded individuals to rob a Nigerian (name withheld) to the tune of $750,000.
These people are true ambassadors of Nigeria. They have shown us something: Money should not be the motivation for work. The motivation for work should be for adding value and producing quality goods and services for a better society. They have proved that this is one mindset that should be discouraged if we will become respected as a civilized and developed society.
Money is good and should be appreciated as a by-product or compensation for any honest and quality work. Money is not evil as many people may wrongfully think. It is the love of money that is the root of all evil conduct. The focus on money as the reason why people go to work is the biggest reason why there are lots of substandard products, unprofessionalism, bribery, corruption, theft of government properties and resources, and many illegal dealings.
Public servants and private sector employees tend to solicit money in exchange for goods and services when money becomes the motivating factor of their work. In our society, it has become prevalent that wherever you go to most government offices or private sectors for any services, money has to be exchanged to acquire what rightfully belongs to you or to attain something quickly without following the normal process.
The frequent words that you hear when money is the motive is: “come next week” or “it’s still in the process”. Services are delayed or withheld for a long time until there is an exchange of money that takes place under the table. This is happening in most government ministries, at different levels of government-Federal, state and local.
Money is exchanged hands when recruitment is being done into the public service. Teachers seeking for positions in a public schools are being forced to part with money. Their applications won’t be considered until they include a certain amount of money.
In commercial banks importers seeking forms, M or form Q go through hell to get foreign exchange at government’s official rate. Such practices are many which is the reason why we don’t see much progress in our development as a nation.
Our public sector workforce consumes a large portion from out national budget every year in salaries but there is little to show on the ground. Despite our abundance of natural resources, we still lack in many aspects of development and essential services.When the focus of work is not about selfish gain but cantered on truly serving people and making their lives better, real development begins.
Our attitude towards work must be radically changed in order for positive progress to take place.
Money is not the most important benefit of work. Work has more benefits than just earning wages. For instance, we work to realise our hidden potentials. Work, therefore, is the paramount key to discovering yourself, but integrity at work holds the mirror with which society sees us.
Work is the divine provision God has given to every man through which we can provide for our needs including the needs of our families and to resolve national issues.
So until we start working responsibly to contribute meaningfully towards a better society that we all desire, then we will miss being honoured as well.
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