The federal government through the Ministry of Transportation is collaborating with the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) to tackle vandalism in the transportation sector, particularly the infrastructure of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).
The collaboration was made known after a joint meeting held in Abuja, where the minister of transportation, Senator Said Alkali, revealed government’s acceptance of the BON’s proposal to help tackle the challenges of rail line vandalism.
The initiative aims to utilise media platforms to raise awareness and encourage citizens to report incidents of vandalism, thereby safeguarding public infrastructure.
The minister, who was represented by the permanent secretary, Oloruntola Olufemi, stressed the pivotal role the media can play in combating vandalism and urged BON to join forces with the ministry in this endeavor.
Alkali highlighted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive to commence all public events with the national pledge, aiming to foster a stronger sense of citizenship and commitment to nationhood among Nigerians.
He, therefore, urged the media to help to redirect people’s attention to the spirit of commitment to nationhood.
The minister responded to the critics of the recent memorandum of understanding (MoU) he signed on the Port Harcourt-Calabar-Enugu-Abuja standard rail project.
Alkali said he is committed and passionate about his job, adding that he is open to the best advice.
According to BON, the aim of the visit to the Ministry of Transportation was to discuss how to use the media, most especially the platform to curb vandalism of critical infrastructure of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, most especially those of the Nigerian Railways Corporation.