{"id":8277,"date":"2013-08-13T12:40:33","date_gmt":"2013-08-13T12:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/curbing-the-menace-of-abandoned-government-vehicles\/"},"modified":"2013-08-13T12:40:33","modified_gmt":"2013-08-13T12:40:33","slug":"curbing-the-menace-of-abandoned-government-vehicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/curbing-the-menace-of-abandoned-government-vehicles\/","title":{"rendered":"Curbing the menace of abandoned government vehicles"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Evelyn Okakwu<\/p>\n

Many local, state and the Federal Government secretariats and agencies across the country are littered with abandoned vehicles in spite of the complaints of inadequate vehicles. Motor vehicles are a prerequisite for efficient service delivery by public institutions. As we all know, the movement of materials and government personnel from one place to the other will not have been made easy without them. However, it seems that most of the government agencies do not see it that way.\u00a0This is because if many of those who visit or transact business with Federal or state government agencies take their time to observe happenings around the premises where that transaction is to be sealed, they will be amazed at the number of abandoned vehicles that litter the place. From local, state to Federal Government ministries and agencies, it is unusual not to see abandoned motor vehicles, some of which might have been there for ages.<\/p>\n

A simple analysis is needed to fully understand the extent of this problem. There is a Federal Government secretariat, 36 state secretariats, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) secretariat and 774 local government secretariats. That means there are 812 secretariats in Nigeria. Again, on the average, the FG, all the 36 states and FCT administration have at least 10 ministries each, which translates to 380 ministries. The secretariats and ministries will amount to atotal of 1192 institutions.<\/p>\n

In addition to the above, the Federal Government has 40 Universities; 21 Polytechnics; 15 Colleges of Agriculture and 9 Colleges of Health Technology. These figures add up to 85. The state governments have 38 Universities, 13 Polytechnics, 19 Colleges of Agriculture and 40 Colleges of Health Technology. In other words, the 36 state governments in Nigeria have 110 institutions.<\/p>\n

If one adds 1,192, 85 and 110 together, one will have 1,387 institutions. Therefore, with an average of 2 abandoned vehicles per institution, there will be 2,774 abandoned vehicles across the Federal and state institutions in the country.
In view of the vital role motor vehicles play in service delivery, it beats the imagination of well-meaning Nigerians that government institutions can afford to have abandoned vehicles in their offices.\u00a0Therefore, if one considers the fact that governments across the three tiers are not able to meet some important needs of the citizenry due to inadequate motor vehicles, it then means some fundamental things are wrong with the manner government agencies manage those assets.
A staff of a local area council in the FCT, who did not want his name in print, attributed the phenomenon to three factors. \u201cIt is due to careless attitude, inadequate funding and management incompetence\u201d.<\/p>\n

The careless attitude relates to the general lackadaisical attitude displayed towards public assets; inadequate funding is a major factor because after the necessary documentation has been done for a faulty vehicle to be repaired, funds may not be approved, and that is why they believe that the management team in charge of the concerned government agency is not competent.\u00a0A close examination of the level of efficiency of some of the institutions owned by the three tiers of government that were visited by our reporter revealed that the local government official was right. \u00a0However, other respondents attributed the phenomenon to government\u2019s accounting system. \u201cGovernment operates on a commitment basis, because once an asset is purchased it is written-off at the end of the fiscal year\u201d, replied Leke Fakayode, an accountant. \u201cBut it is the responsibility of a designated department within the ministry to monitor the disposal of those vehicles\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

The bureaucracy that goes with vehicle disposal is enough to dissuade any willing public official from doing the right thing. Another official of one of the state Polytechnics, who spoke to our correspondent, attributed the problem to deceit. \u201cOn most occasions, the state government gives us refurbished vehicles which break down few months into their usage\u201d, he said. The school authority that is already starved of funds cannot afford to repair them every time those vehicles are faulty.\u00a0Federal Government-owned institutions are no exception. Abandoned vehicles are regular sights in some of those institutions. An official of a prominent federal institution, who spoke to Peoples Daily, but preferred anonymity, attributed the phenomenon to innovation.
\u201cWhen vehicle manufacturers launch a new model, which is more efficient than the one presently in use in terms of fuel consumption, ruggedness and comfort, the management will opt for the new model.\u201d In other words, opting for the new model automatically translates to abandoning the old vehicle which may be there for as long as the situation permits.
A Kaduna-based sociologist, Alh. Zakari Buba, who spoke to our correspondent, said that abandoned vehicles phenomenon in government agencies is due to poor maintenance culture and abuse of government property. \u201cThis trend is so common because government officials use them for unofficial duties and the lack maintenance culture\u201d, he said.
The fact that this trend still continues now that there is a growing investment in metal scraps shows that it is either the public sector is stranded by the procedures leading to the disposal of abandoned vehicles or the public officials in charge are not competent enough.
Rather than leave those vehicles to constitute nuisance to their surroundings, public institutions are encouraged to embrace some or all of these suggestions. Firstly, the institutions concerned should look for ways to fast tract their repairs so as to enhance the productivity of their staff.
One of our respondents said that whenever their vehicles are faulty, they bear the transport fares as their employer will look the other way. The basic minimum wage of the Federal Government is N18, 000, and by tacitly asking them to bear the transport expenses through non-allocation of funds for repairs will further reduce their disposable income and thus impoverish them the more.
Another way to address this problem is to canvass for attitudinal change. Furthermore, they can sell those abandoned vehicles as scrap metals to firms that will recycle them, that is, if they are faulty beyond repairs.
Government officials, at all levels, should see these properties as their own. Added to this is that Nigerians should improve on our maintenance culture, which for now is nothing to write home about. In addition, due diligence must be done to ensure that a department or section of any institution really needs a vehicle before any order is placed for it.<\/p>\n

The post Curbing the menace of abandoned government vehicles appeared first on Peoples Daily Newspaper, Nigeria.<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: People’s Daily Newspaper<\/p>\n

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