From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Excitement greeted the opening of the second Niger Bridge to road users on Thursday, December 15.
Though the opening was on a temporal basis, the excitement was expected knowing the trauma road users face while crossing the River Niger Bridgehead, especially during the festive period where some travelers get trapped and spend the night in the area.
Nigeria’s minister of works and housing, Babatunde Fashola, while performing the partial opening ceremony, said the second Niger Bridge would reduce the long time spent on the old bridge.
He said with the second Niger Bridge, it will now take few minutes to cross from Asaba, the capital of Delta State to the commercial city of Onitsha in Anambra State so that people can go and do more productive things.
However, when the reporter visited the area on Sunday traffic had not eased at all as long stretch of vehicles stoodstill while trying to access the old bridge.
Though vehicles moved in trickles into the link road leading to the second Niger Bridge, the old bridge still witnessed serious traffic gridlock.
Crossing the old bridge from the Onitsha end, long stretch of vehicles were stuck in traffic even when it was a Sunday morning and not a business day.
Policemen from ‘C’ Division, Asaba near the old bridge were in full gear of extortion as they took turns to collect money from road users, especially those who drove against traffic from the Asaba end.
The traffic gridlock stretched from the Asaba toll gate as drivers tried to maneuver into the bridge. It took the reporter just 12 minutes to drive from the second Niger Bridge from the Okoh Asaba link road to the Obosi side.
There was no presence of security personnel at the lonely road leading into the second bridge though se policemen and road safety officials were sighted at the middle of the bridge.
The toll collection point at the bridge was empty though almost completed for use while both lanes of the bridge are ready for road users.
Respondents, who spoke to Daily Sun, expressed divergent views on what might be the reason for the persistent heavy traffic on the old bridge.
While some attributed the gridlock to the restriction of heavy duty vehicles from plying the second Niger Bridge for now, others said that some road users were still afraid to use the new bridge for now.
Chidozie Umeh, a traveler coming to Onitsha from Benin, expressed frustration on what he witnessed in the area even on a Sunday morning.
“Traffic gridlock is not supposed to persist here again till now and I’m surprised about this. We came from Benin, heading to Onitsha, and on getting to the toll gate after staying at a spot for close to one hour, the driver said he cannot move further and opted to drop us there and headed back to Benin. We had to trek this long distance and it is painful. Government should initiate actions to ensure that motorists ply that second Niger Bridge while the security agencies should be up and doing in their responsibilities,” he said.
Friday Olokor, a professional driver conveying passengers from Asaba to Lagos, said people were yet to be convinced that the second Niger Bridge is strong enough and fitted with adequate protection before they can have the confidence to ply that route.
“I have been a driver for close to 50 years and I can tell you that most things that impede movement on the roads are man-made. Policemen are there extorting motorists thereby causing another blockade. Now, the second Niger Bridge cannot be trusted and it also contributes to the reason why people are not comfortable plying that route.
“It is better they complete everything they want to do on that bridge first and test- run it with heavy duty vehicles before motorists will begin to use the bridge with confidence. We don’t want any situation one can just plunge into the River with his vehicle one day and they will tell us stories that touch the heart.
“Towards a free flow of traffic this festive period, I also advise that security agencies should maintain a motorised surveillance in the area instead of the stop and search method which is an avenue to extort money from road users,” he said.
Martins Oluwaseyi, engineer’s representative in the second Niger Bridge project, confirmed in a chat with Daily Sun that traffic was opened only for one way direction for now from the Asaba end to the Obosi/ Owerri axis, from the West to the East, for those returning home for Christmas.
Oluwaseyi also said another route of one way will be opened to traffic from the Owerri / Obosi end by January when people will be returning to their bases after the Christmas and New Year break.
On the planned toll collection at the bridge, he said: “For now, people are passing freely on the bridge because the project is not fully completed yet. The opening is temporarily for one month so that people can travel for Christmas without going through the stress of using the old bridge which is very narrow.
“The minister gave the directive and after tJanuary 15, it will be closed again to complete the project which will be commissioned for permanent use before President Buhari leaves office on May 29, 2023″, he said.
A staff of Julius Berger, who pleaded anonymiy, told Daily Sun said Onitsha traffic managers should be blamed for the persistent gridlock on the old bridge.
“You can see that any vehicle going to Owerri and Obosi axis easily diverts to this second Niger Bridge and continues the journey without any hitch. But those entering the old bridge to Onitsha are stuck in endless traffic.
“Please, ask those working and controlling traffic in the Onitsha side what they are doing and what’s going on. The go-slow is coming from the Anambra axis, the federal government has done its own part,“ he said.
