Public infrastructure is provided with tax payers’ money for ease of doing government businesses.

Annually, the federal, state and local governments budget huge amount of money for this all important purpose.

Such infrastructure includes various offices in the ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, belonging to the government.

They also points to airports, stadia, public buildings, roads, railways and other facilities largely within the purview of bureaucrats.

Without those infrastructures, there will be a standstill in the chains of providing goods and services to the needy.

This is not peculiar to the government establishments, alone, but to the private sector, which is the engine room of economic growth.

Therefore, as a matter of due diligence, people who are entrusted with the care of maintaining public infrastructure owe it as a duty to ensure their proper upkeep.

While it is noted that some authorities concerned are doing their best day-in day-out to justify the huge amount of money being spent to provide infrastructure by way of regular maintenance, it is equally observed that their best has not been enough.

In some instances, it was discovered that many people treat infrastructure provided by the government as belonging to the government, and not their concern.

There are sad tales of numerous government facilities, especially abandoned buildings and offices scattered across the landscape of Nigeria.

Others that are not abandoned totally are in varying degrees of dilapidation, making them hazardous for human habitation.

Kudos should be given to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for doing its best within available scarce resources to fix some public infrastructure that had become eyesores in recent past.

The rehabilitation of the National Stadium, now M.K.O Abiola Stadium Abuja and the National Stadium at Surulere, Lagos, readily comes to mind.

There are evidences of on-going rehabilitation on other critical infrastructure designed to bring convenience to the citizens, especially railways, roads and deep seaports.

While the government has taken it up as a must responsibility and duty to carry out regular maintenance of public infrastructure, those who are saddled with the task of supervising such utilities must be up and doing.

Government will save a lot of money and use it to provide other amenities if public infrastructure are properly maintained with all sense of purpose.

Civil servants, public office holders and the elected representatives of the people need to see infrastructure provided for their own convenience as belonging to them and treat them accordingly.

Furthermore, parents, guardians and school teachers should inculcate maintenance culture in children as they grow up.

Aggrieved citizens will be doing the nation a lot of good, if they can devise other peaceful means of expressing their reservations rather than targeting public property and facilities for destruction during protest.  

Tayo Sanni

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