The Nigerian government says it spends sixty billion naira to maintain and repair vandalized oil and gas infrastructures in the Niger Delta region of the country.

This was disclosed in Abuja by the country’s Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed at the 20th edition of the Town Hall meeting on the protection of oil and gas infrastructures.

The Minister said as the government strives to bridge the nation’s infrastructural deficit, every strategy must also be put in place to stop the wanton destruction of these public infrastructures.

According to statistics reeled out by the Minister, between January 2019 and September 2020, 1,161 pipeline points across the country were vandalized.

“Apart from the impact on the nation’s earnings, consider also the environmental problems caused by the incessant vandalism, in terms of freshwater pollution, air pollution, soil pollution, etc., and you will appreciate the enormity of the problem.

“Remember that public infrastructure is at the very core of economic growth and national development. Therefore, the destruction of public infrastructure by some unpatriotic Nigerians calls for great concern and immediate action, hence our decision to organize this town hall meeting series.”

The Minister said to have such laudable efforts of the government thwarted by some unpatriotic citizens through wanton destruction of critical infrastructure was totally unacceptable.

“To have railway tracks subjected to wanton destruction, bridge railings removed, manhole covers pilfered, street lights and other power infrastructure, oil pipelines, telecoms facilities and critical aviation infrastructure damaged or stolen do not augur well for our growth and development.

“Apart from endangering the lives of fellow innocent citizens, such unpatriotic acts take a toll on the government’s limited revenue, as it seeks to replace, rehabilitate or totally reconstruct such destroyed infrastructure.”

Mohammed further narrated that Nigeria has long suffered a massive infrastructure deficit due to decades of neglect, population explosion and the absence of maintenance culture

He, however, said that since coming into office in 2015, the Muhammadu Buhari Administration has embarked on rapid economic growth with equity, that is people-centred economic management as well as prioritizing human capital development through enhanced social services and infrastructure development.

“Despite a drastic drop in revenues and competing priorities, especially that of tackling insecurity, the Administration has invested heavily in providing new infrastructure, in addition to reconstructing and rehabilitating existing ones.”

The Minister revealed that the idea behind the gathering was to create in the public mind that government property are indeed citizens’ property and so must be protected for the benefit of all.

“Also, the Town Hall meeting will help to sensitize communities, especially those where infrastructure are located, to be conscious of the import of such and protect them, expose, arrest and prosecute all those who engage in buying pilfered infrastructure items along with those who bring such to them to sell.”

Mohammed also said the meeting will sensitize the larger citizenry to support the widespread campaign on the protection and ownership of public infrastructure/assets, especially in the Railways, Roads and Aviation sectors just to mention a few.

It would be recalled that the Ministry of Information and Culture kick-started the town hall meeting series in Lagos on April 25th 2016 to provide a platform for the Federal Government to regularly give account of its stewardship to the people and get their feedback, with a view to enhancing citizens’ participation in governance.

VON