1.    Dr. Samuel Maduka Onyishi – The Ethics in Business Warrior

Dr. Samuel Maduka Onyishi, managing director of Peace Mass Transit, returned N2.2bllion government money “mistakenly” paid into his account by his bankers. He had applied through Unity Bank for a Central Bank Programme facility of $3m. His Company’s Bank, First Bank of Nigeria, assisted him in processing the loan request which was eventually approved. The loan was approved, and the money eventually disbursed through his bank. But he found that government had credited N10million to him rather than the N3m he applied for – effectively awarding him an extra N2.5billion that he did not ask for.

Hear him: “I called them (the banks) and informed them that the amount they paid to me was more than the amount requested; they told me that the $10m was my money.

Onyishi did something unusual. He invited officials of both First and Unity Banks’ branches in Enugu, invited the media personnel and publicly handed over a cheque for the balance of $7m to his banker. He asked them to keep the money while they did their reconciliation to ascertain and return it to its rightful owner.

In a country, unscrupulous private sector operators actively collaborate with foreign businessmen to arrange financial heists, using their access to top public officials. These “businessmen” frequently embark on independent raids of the public treasury aided by the same slimy officials. It is in the same country that we found a true revolutionist in the person of Samuel Maduka Onyishi, an ethical businessman who respects public funds. Sam Onyishi is a champion ethical businessman, an icon of empathy, proactiveness, innovation and courage, and a true warrior of a new and revolutionary national integrity movement (NIM) – as I see it.

Next: The Conscientious Public Servant

Author

  • Ogbuagu Bob Anikwe, a veteran journalist and message development specialist, is now a community journalism advocate and publisher of Enugu Metro. Contact him on any of the channels below.

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