VANDALISATION OF PUBLIC FACILITIES IN MY COUNTRY
It is a common sight in Nigeria to see public facilities vandalized. Street light, telecommunication cables, express roads or highway dividends and even pipe-lines are often vandalized by unscrupulous Nigerians. in almost all our cities and towns, public facilities which are provided by government are damaged soon after they have been in-stalled. Vandalisation of public facilities is a thing that should give any Nigerian a serious. concern.
This is so because the rate at which these facilities are being vandalized is alarming and disturbing. The public street. lights which is meant to provide illumination at night to motorists and pedestrians alike are vandalized, thus throwing most of our major streets into darkness. The most outrageous vandalisation is that of the petroleum pipe-lines which mostly result in conflagration that destroys people and properties.
Vandalisation of public facilities is a direct result of our bad perception that government properties or facilities are nobody's properties. As a result of this, we are non-chalant about taking proper care of them. This makes some unscrupulous Nigerians to take delight in destroying public facilities without impunity. We often forget that government spends a lot of money in replacing these vandalized facilities and where government fails to replace them, many people suffer for the action of these few vandals.
Obviously, vandalisation of public facilities in my country is a negative trend that must be discouraged because of its effects. Firstly, foreigners living in the country see how Nigerians willfully vandalise public facilities which probably looks strange to them. As a result of this, the image of the country suffers as the country will be regarded as the country of vandals by these foreigners. Other countries will regard us as people who could not keep and maintain the facilities provided for them. Unfortunately enough, an average Nigerian will be regarded as a vandal who willfully destroys things.
Besides this, vandalisation of public facilities can only lead us to wastage of tax payers' money. These facilities are provided with the money obtained through tax and their vandalisation is mere wastage of the money with which these facilities are provided. Government is not encouraged to provide more of these facilities as they have to replace them soon after they are put in place.
Vandalisation has resulted in loss of lives in the country. Most Nigerians have been killed through armed robbery at night while some other ones have lost their lives through ghastly motor accidents simply because they are traveling at night on the roads which are in darkness as a result of vandalisation of the light provided by government; More lives are lost through vandalisation of petroleum pipe-line which often explode as people scoop fuel from vandalized pipes.
In conclusion, vandalisation of public facilities should be condemned and discouraged. Stiffer penalties should be meted out to those who are caught vandalizing public amenities and there should be no sacred cows. Lastly, we need to re-orientate Nigerians towards making them regard public facilities as their own which must be jealously guarded and maintained by every Nigerian.
Bisola Adenrele