A Liberian teenager has been honored by the country’s president after finding $50,000 and returning it to its rightful owner.
Emmanuel Tuloe told The Associated Press Friday was invited to meet President George Weah on Monday.
“I’m set to go see the president and when I meet him I will talk to him about my education,” he told the publication. “I will tell him I want back to go back to school.” Upon meeting President Weah, he was offered a scholarship to attend any school of his choice in Liberia, all the way to the level of a Master’s Degree.
“This scholarship is personal from me and my family, and will be valid whether or not I am President of Liberia,” the president told Tuloe.
The scholarship will mean a lot to Tuloe, who dropped out of school in the seventh grade to run a motorcycle taxi service to help support his family. It was while Tuloe was working his taxi job that he spotted the plastic bag full of money drop.
“I was afraid because it was plenty [of money] and so I brought it home and gave it to my aunty to keep until the owner could ask for it,” he told AP News.
The businesswoman was identified as Musu Yancy. She reportedly took to the radio to appeal for the return of her misplaced funds. Tuloe obliged.
The Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission commended Tuloe for returning the money. However, Tuloe’s good deed has not been well-received by all.
“Since my decision, when I have a breakdown on the highway and some of my rider friends see me, they don’t help. They say I acted stupid to find and return money,” he told AP. “They tell me I will never get rich in my lifetime,” he said. “They say because I returned such an amount of money, I will live and die poor.”
