The "Look After Ability" Theory of Nation Building to the Nigerian Societies
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The word “look after ability” is a phrase which connotes maintenance culture. In this context, we shall be making use of the term “maintenance culture”.
MAINTENANCE CULTURE
Maintenance culture is the process of ensuring the provision of care and overseeing maintenance over the already available resources or infrastructures of a country/nation. Maintenance culture is the effort of bringing back an asset into the operating condition it ought to be, for which it can have a normal functioning at a minimal cost which is capable of enhancing the life span of the infrastructures and equipment involved.
MAINTENANCE CULTURE NIGERIA
Maintenance culture ensures adequate care of the available resources or infrastructure. Over the year, resource management skill has been a skill which is rare when making reference to maintenance culture in the nation called Nigeria. More so, the government are busy building at the verge of collapsing, abandoned factory plants and machinery, unused school buildings, pot-holes and chasms on the constructed highway roads, abandoned vehicles with minor problems.
These actions in a number of ways have resulted to a colossal waste of scarce resources. It is actually a major problem among many which still keep the nation on her status of developing.
Maintenance can be said to be the ability and skill of keeping infrastructures which are available for use to their designed life span; but this is present very low achievement in most West African countries, especially in Nigeria.
Maintenance culture is pertinent to Nigeria as a developing country, whose infrastructure which are essential for harnessing the available raw materials for production.
Despite several attempt embarked on by the government to reshape, improve and develop the economy, it all amount to little or nothing as a result of poor enforcement agencies. For instance, Nigeria has overtime experienced poor transportation infrastructure as a result of lack of maintenance culture, which have encouraged low production, low foreign investment, poverty and unemployment.
It is important to know that the people of the nation also have a lot to contribute in promoting maintenance culture. It is therefore important for the government to orientate the masses on the important of maintenance culture.
A whole lot of public facilities provided to give benefits to the people are abandoned to decay without any positive actions from the people to encourage the sustainability of the property. As a result, public facilities do not live up to its life span due to lack of maintenance.
It is unfortunate that the consciousness of mind towards maintenance culture in Nigeria is at its low pace and level. A beautiful edifice is a source of great joy to all at the inception of it all, but in no time, it is allowed to deteriorate and collapse.
EFFECTS OF NON MAINTENANCE CULTURE
- Non maintenance culture results in the misused of scarce resources which ought to be judiciously used.
-Public facilities do not live up to their life span due to lack of maintenance culture.
-Non maintenance culture results in the abandonment of available infrastructures which are faulty as a result of lack of maintenance culture.
-Non maintenance culture results in insufficient resources for overhead or infrastructure which are essential for harnessing the available raw materials for productions.
-Low revenue is realized or generated in the use of assets that are not properly maintained.
-Non maintenance culture encourages low production.
-Non maintenance culture results in poor standard of living.
CONCLUSION
The study looked into maintenance culture(look after ability theory) with the aim of examining its implication on community development. It was discovered that provision of infrastructural facilities would lead to development of communities but that this development would be sustained only if efforts are made to embark on routine preventive, recurrent and periodic maintenance when facilities are put in place.
It also emphasized the need for educating the populace so that maintenance culture would not be alien to any Nigerian.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations should be worthwhile in promoting Maintenance culture:
For maintenance culture to be imbibed; people must be adequately educated because education stresses the need for people to realize that they can and must play a part in the determination and direction of their lives.
Education should be given to empower not only the employee that are concerned with maintenance but also every member of the community so as to awaken and sustain in them maintenance culture. In giving such education, media houses should continue to play their roles.
People should be made to understand the importance of infrastructural sustainability so as to encourage people to pay their taxes promptly.
Intensive training and seminars must be organized for all cadres of staff of various establishments. Users of facilities should also be brought up to date in the use and care of equipment.
All the necessary personnel, equipment, consumable and routine spare parts needed for efficient and proper maintenance of facilities should be put in place by necessary operators of these facilities.
People must be adequately mobilized and carried along in all government activities since they are the ultimate beneficiaries of the projects/facilities being maintained.
The three tiers of government should organize seminars and conferences meant to sensitize people on maintenance culture from time to time.
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