FG BUILDS INFRASTRUCTURE FOR NIGERIANS. NIGERIANS MUST PROTECT, NOT DESTROY.

FG BUILDS INFRASTRUCTURE FOR NIGERIANS. NIGERIANS MUST PROTECT, NOT DESTROY.

By Francis Nwaze

The question we must ask ourselves as Nigerians is simple: Who is really destroying our country?

Pictures emerging from the newly constructed Lagos-Calabar Coastal Superhighway show individuals allegedly caught in the act of vandalising and carting away materials used in construction of the road

This is not just an attack on a road. It is an attack on a national investment and, ultimately, on the Nigerian people.

The incident is particularly disturbing coming only days after the Honourable Minister of Works, Senator Engr. David Nweze Umahi, CON, inaugurated the Coastal Highway Guards in Lagos, a security initiative designed to strengthen the protection of the multi-billion-naira coastal highway project and other critical infrastructure along the route.

The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Superhighway is one of the major infrastructure projects being delivered By President Bola Ahmed Tinubu through the Federal Ministry of Works. The project is designed to improve connectivity, stimulate economic activities, open up communities and strengthen the movement of people and goods along Nigeria’s coastline.

Under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the Federal Government, through Minister Umahi, has continued to push major road projects across the country, with emphasis on improving critical infrastructure and connecting communities that have for years faced transportation challenges.

But government cannot protect every piece of infrastructure without the cooperation of citizens.

When someone removes construction materials from a public project, the damage does not end with the contractor or the Ministry of Works. The loss is borne by all of us. It can delay construction, increase costs, create safety risks and ultimately deny communities the benefits the project was designed to deliver.

That is why this latest incident should provoke more than outrage. It should provoke responsibility.

We cannot demand good roads, better infrastructure and rapid development from government while some among us turn around to vandalise the very projects being provided for our benefit.

The message must be clear: Public infrastructure is public property.

The Federal Government is investing in roads and other critical infrastructure across the country.

Citizens must also play their part. Rather than looking away when public infrastructure is being vandalised, Nigerians should report suspicious activities and help protect projects in their communities.

The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Superhighway belongs to Nigeria. Its success should not be the responsibility of the government alone.

Government must build. Contractors must deliver. Security agencies must protect. And citizens must take responsibility.

Because, at the end of the day, we are the ones who will use these roads. We are the ones who will benefit from them. And we must not be the ones destroying them.

Francis Nwaze, is the Senior Special Assistant to the Honourable Minister of Works (Media), he writes from Abuja.