The saying that good will and hard work pay is true after all as a 60-year-old man, David Davou, has been recognized and appreciated by well-meaning Nigerians for consistently taking it upon himself to fix potholes on the Abuja road for the past 30 years.
The man, who hails from Plateau State, North-Central Nigeria, has been gifted a new truck by good-spirited Nigerians who felt touched by his story.
A Twitter user, @DoubleOGAdoga, broke the news in an update on Tuesday, saying the “selfless road fixer”, as Davou is now referred to, has been gifted a truck as well as an award for his unsentimental display of humanitarian service for three decades.
“He got a new truck last week,” he tweeted.
The story of David Davou’s selfless service a went viral a few weeks ago after it was shared by @DoubleOGAdoga.
In the video shared by @DoubleOGAdoga, Davou is seen explaining his motivation for taking up the unpaid task.
“I volunteer myself to this Abuja. I have been doing this work, I cannot count the years but I remember when I was doing the work, it was during when Abacha died, that is the year I can only know. Because when I was doing the work, I heard the announcement through radio, through press that since then I have been doing this work not only here both Masaka, Maraba, Kuchikau, Auta, Karshi, even inside town Abacha barracks, water boards. Any pothole that is giving people problem, people will come and tell me we have problem in a place, that is where I would run to,” he says in the video.
@DoubleOGAdoga said he has known Davou since he (@DoubleOGAdoga) was eight years old.
“He’s been repairing Abuja roads for 30 years, all by himself for FREE. I came across him again last month just outside my office, he was filling a pothole. I decided to tell his story, what I discovered broke my heart,” he said.
Following this, @DoubleOGAdoga resolved to start up a crowdfund account, and lots of Nigerians threw in their various donations.
The news that Davou has got a new truck has attracted various reactions from Nigerians, both online and offline.
A student journalist from the University of Benin, Mrs Christiana Ogbonna, who spoke to The Nigerian Observer, said what David has done was commendable.
“It’s quite touching as it shows that we still have patriotic Nigerians who are willing to lay sacrifices and are concerned about the country’s development, so it is always better to preserve government built infrastructures instead of destroying them because at the end of the day it is taxpayers’ money that is being used,” Mrs Ogbonna said.
“It belongs to us all and this man has literally taken upon himself the duties of Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) on the Abuja road. He is a hero,” she said.
FREMA is a federal government agency saddled with the responsibility of monitoring and administering road maintenance with the objective of keeping all federal roads in good and safe conditions.
