Abike Dabiri lauds Nigerian for returning N150m wrongly posted into his account

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Hon Abike Dabiri- Erewa, has hailed a Nigerian, Michael Jonathan Asemota (a.k.a Teddy) for his sincerity and honesty in returning QR1,502,000 ($441,127.99) about N150 million wrongfully posted into his account in Qatar.

A statement by the Special Assistant on Media to Dabiri-Erewa, Mr Abdur-Rahman Balogun, quoted the SSA as given the commendation when she received Asemota in her office in Abuja on Wednesday.

According to Dabiri- Erewa, such a rare display of honesty and sincerity from a Nigerian in the Diaspora has given the country a facelift as well as other Nigerians living in Qatar.

She urged Asemota to continue to be a good ambassador of Nigeria and implore other Nigerians in the Diaspora to emulate the positive image he has given to Nigeria in Qatar .

In a letter of commendation personally signed by her and given to Asemota, Dabiri-Erewa said, ` With this exceptional act of honesty, you have become a positive image for Nigerians and Nigeria in Qatar in the midst of bad news tag against Nigerians in the Diaspora.

“We are truly proud of you and urge you to continue to extol the virtues and strength of the Nigerian heritage of honesty, integrity and honour. Your shinning beacon serves as inspiration to the Youth of Nigeria’’.

Asemota, a native of Edo State but based in Doha, Qatar, had opened an account with a cheque of QR150, 200 with an undisclosed commercial bank, where he is the sole signatory of the account.

Narrating his experience to Dabiri-Erewa during the courtesy call in Abuja, Asemota said, “As I got back home, I received an alert showing that a QR1,502,000 had been credited into my account by mistake instead of QR150,200.

“I went to see the manager to report the error of QR1, 502,000 deposited into my account. After checking for confirmation, the manager gave me a warm handshake in appreciation.”

Asked why he alerted the bank about the error, Asemota said:“I knew the money did not belong to me and shouldn’t be in my account in the first place, so there were no motives and temptations to keep it.”

He also advised people faced with similar situations to ”immediately notify their bank to avoid any potential problems as the bank will eventually trace their mistake back to your account and withdraw the mistakenly deposited money.”

He said the singular act has given Nigeria and Nigerians positive image in Qatar in the midst of bad stories of Nigeria emanating from the country.

Asemota is an official of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation-Qatar (NIDO-Qatar), the umbrella body of Nigerian residents in the country.