As Nigerians continue to commend Mr Daniel Achi of Halogen Security Limited for displaying honesty at the Murtala Mohammed International airport, Lagos; a forth-night ago, his people of Ubulu-Uku at the weekend hosted him at Victoria Garden City (VGC) Ajah Lagos in a ceremony well attended by guests from different walks of life.
The occasion which took place at the residence of a former top official of Chevron Oil Company Limited, Mr. Felix Molokwu was largely put together by a socio-cultural organization known as Ubulu-Uku ’82 Club to celebrate its annual new yam festival and also to recognize and honour citizens of Ubulu-Uku, Delta State who have displayed excellence or exemplary character in any sphere of life.
The Halogen Security staff, Achi who hails from Ubuku-Uku was a major attraction at the event as his kith and kin took time to eulogise him for bringing honour to his country Nigeria.
In his welcome address at the occasion, President of the Club; Chief Kevin Ofili noted that in spite of Achi’s low income level and the austere times most Nigerians were living in, he was able to resist the temptation of criminally converting the huge amount of foreign currency and other valuables into his personal property when he picked the bag containing the valuables while on duty at the airport.
According to Ofili, the Halogen staff like any average Nigerian was in a position to convert the valuables into his, particularly as the money contained in the bag would solve a lot of problems for him, but he chose the path of honour by intimating his senior colleague Mr Francis Emepueaku. Both of them subsequently established a link with owner of the bag.
Achi’s kinsmen, Dr. Jude Iyitor; a management consultant, Mr. Sam Ifeozo, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of high brow Piccadilly Hotels and Suites, Lekki, Barrister Larry Ofulue of Federal Ministry of Justice and many others had taken time to pour encomium on him for the exemplary display of honesty.
To demonstrate their love for him, various sums of money were announced as individual donations to him as a way of encouraging him to remain consistent with this virtue. The kinsmen had also paid tribute to Halogen Security Limited for providing the platform upon which Achi was able to bring honour to his country.
In his response, the 50-year-old Achi expressed surprise for the show of love to him by his people of Ubulu-Uku as he never considered himself qualified to be so honoured by such an elite group. He had thought that what he did at the airport was merely part of his responsibility as security officer.
He attributed what he did to God’s abiding love for him and a confirmation that the challenges he had faced over the years as a low-income earner who lost his wife during childbirth were not in vain. He used the opportunity to appreciate his employers, Halogen Security and Nigerians in general for cheering him for something he had merely considered as an obligatory part of his duty.
It will be recalled that following this exemplary act by the two Halogen Security staff, President Muhammadu Buhari had hailed both of them. In a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, Nigerians have been charged to emulate Achi and his colleague as the President noted that such conduct reflected what he described as “the new Nigeria that we all desire.”
A Lagos-based medical doctor, Banji Oyegbami was said to have gone to pick a couple returning from America at the airport on August 18, 2018, and in the process of loading their luggage into Oyegbami’s car, the hand luggage of the returnee’s wife fell off un-noticed by any of them.
According to report, it was not until 90 minutes later that an officer of Halogen called the couple to come for the retrieved bag after contact had been established via a phone contained in the bag. When the bag was eventually collected, the contents including a handsome amount of America dollars, phone, wrist watch and other valuables were intact.
The couple were said to have been shocked as they did not believe that such a degree of honesty existed anywhere in Nigeria. To show their gratitude, they offered a generous gift to Achi and his colleague but the two Halogen staff declined to accept saying that they were merely doing their job as security officers.
