Should someone who returns a misplaced valuable be rewarded?

Recently, an unconfirmed story went viral on the net sphere about a Keke (tricycle) driver and a businessman. The story is that the businessman forgot a bag which contained about a million naira in the Keke. When the driver discovered this, he traced the man and returned the bag of money to him. The businessman […]

Recently, an unconfirmed story went viral on the net sphere about a Keke (tricycle) driver and a businessman. The story is that the businessman forgot a bag which contained about a million naira in the Keke. When the driver discovered this, he traced the man and returned the bag of money to him. The businessman in turn gave the Keke driver N200 in appreciation.

This generated a lot of reaction in the social media with some saying the N200 was a pitiable sum to appreciate the driver, asking what if the driver refused to return the money, while others said the driver should not expect any reward.

Therefore, “Should reward be given to someone who returns a misplaced valuable?” begs for an answer.

By Bamas Victoria @BamasVictoria

A TV journalist, Alhassan Bala, says he will reward such a person.

Bala explained that he would do that because not everyone would have returned a misplaced valuable item, as such they deserved to be rewarded.

He said, “It is to encourage the person to continue with the good job in case he comes across another person’s missing item.’’

Bala, however, added that for some persons, telling them, “Thank you” would suffice.

“In a situation where those that bring the missing items are so rich, for instance, a director in a ministry or an agency returns a missing 100k, what will you give him? I think they only need appreciation,” he said.

An engineer, Elijah Mopa Anika, said he would reward whoever returned his missing valuables.

Engr. Anika said, “The content of the reward may vary from ‘thank you’ to a lifetime job or even cash or gift items.”

He gave an instance of a man who returned his sister’s handset, and that the man refused cash reward, and insisted that a “Thank you” was enough.

A Jos resident, Dadson Ibrahim, said, “To me, it is such a personal thing. I will reward the person with a gift, a job, if any, money and more.”

Ibrahim added that, “For some people, a ‘thank you’ is all they will need because they would want someone to do the same for them.”

In a contrary opinion, Obinna Precious Anyaibe told LIFEXTRA that rewarding someone who returned a misplaced item was not an obligation.

Anyaibe said, “I don’t think we’re obligated to reward someone who returns a misplaced valuable item. It’s more like a personal decision, and it depends on a lot of things; like how valuable the item is and who the person that found it is to you.

Clarifying his stance, Anyaibe said, “If the lost item is my journal, house keys or maybe even my phone, I may just thank the person; if it’s a friend or a family member that found it. But if it is a stranger, I may do more than just saying ‘thank you’. I can offer him some money in gratitude.”

He concluded that, “It’s not compulsory to reward people who find an item you really value. At least it shouldn’t be.”