The permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani was today in Abuja conferred with an award of excellence for promoting capacity-building and efficient service delivery in the Federal Civil Service.
Receiving the award from Vision One Leadership Development Initiative (VOLDI), a non-governmental organisation, led by its director, Emmanuel Jonny, Ajani thanked them for the honour and called on them to be more proactive and go beyond just organising yearly summits to sensitise the youths about the ills of vandalism.
“Vandalism is ongoing – and this is not just on the rail tracks. One thing I was hoping to hear in your speech was what you are doing, beyond organising a summit to protect this critical government infrastructure. Having a summit once a year is not enough in my opinion,” she observed.
On the issue of securing the rail tracks, Ajani said: “But as a ministry, we are looking into securing all our rail tracks. We are working in collaboration with security agencies to make sure rail tracks are protected and secured for continuous transportation of people.”
She enjoined the association to cash in on technology and, partiucuarļý, social media platforms to not only engage the youths in regular conversations on how to safeguard public infrastructures but to also use it to provide information that can open up the economy along the train routes.
Speaking earlier, Jonny called upon Nigerians to assume responsibility for government infrastructures in their domain, as damage to them will adversely affect the country.
“I believe strongly that, if people begin to see government infrastructures as their properties, the tendency of destroying them will not be there. We will make sure that we continue to create this awareness,” Jonny assured.
Furthermore, he described the railway as one of the “foundations of economic growth” and called on the ministry to partner with it in creating massive awareness that will promote peace and tranquillity to enable the government’s businesses and policies to thrive.
