Some Lagosians
ignorantly see public facilities as state properties belonging to people in
government only; as such they fail to take care of these public facilities. Put
simply, public facilities are facilities provided by the government for the
benefit of the general public. These facilities include, but not limited to
roads, street lights, public buildings, crude oil pipelines and recreational
areas. Public facilities, in reality, belong to the people and the people are
expected to take ownership of and responsibility for them.
This ought to be so
because public facilities are made available and funded with the tax payers’
money. The wrong mindset that public properties belong to the government makes
some people vandalise them. It is same reason people steal and sell off public
properties. By so doing, they believe they are punishing and hurting the people
in government alone through these acts of vandalism, whereas and of a truth,
they are indirectly hurting themselves by destroying amenities which make life
easier for all.