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Nigerians have a somewhat very poor attitude towards public facilities. Becauseit is public property, we think it is nobody’s property. In Lagos now,some public repairs of facilities are going on. Of course, it is notadequate but at least the works give one some semblance of governance.

Now, the area where I live has some road construction going on. It has been on for about two years now and we all are frustrated. Justrecently, they dug a gutter on the long stretch of road. The main roadhas not been completed and it is a nightmare for pedestrians butsomehow, we manage to survive it. The gutter has been fixed however andwater can flow on the road.

What I have noticed is that some very nasty Lagosians have turned the gutter into a refuse dump. Walk past their houses and shops thatare close to this gutter and you find them throwing pieces of thrashinto it. Maybe because it is a deep gutter they think that no matterthe amount of thrash they throw in, it can never rise to the top. Thatis the point they get it backwards. It might not rise and fill thewhole place but when it rains, it will wash off all the debris down theoften sloping gutter and then deposit them in a pile somewhere thusconstituting a problem for the environment.

Of course, Lagos (or Nigeria) is a hard place to live because of lack of basic infrastructure but as a people we should do something forourselves too. We should try and meet government effort half way. Afterall, it is for our ultimate good.

Eko o gbodo baje!