The honourable Minister of Workd, Engr. Dave Umahi, at the weekend applauded various stakeholders for their cooperation, support and assistance that ensured the timely reopening of the Independence Bridge in Victoria Island, Lagos after repair of the failed section.
Aside the contractors engaged for the repair work- Buildwell Nig Ltd and Hitech Nigeria Ltd, as well as Lagosians, the Minister singled out Mr. Tony Elumelu, chairman of United Bank for Africa Plc and Transcorp Plc, as well as Alhaji Aliko Dangote “for their calls and encouragement.”
Recall that the bridge was closed for repairs on April 2, 2025, resulting to gridlock which caused untold hardship to Lagosians, necessitating the visit of the Honourable Minister on April 3, 2025 less than 24 hours of the incident.
According to the statement by Barr Orji Uchenna Orji, Special Adviser (Media) to the Honourable Minister, Elumelu and Dangote were ready to “send their planes to carry us, and we said no.”
He also appreciated the engineers of the Federal Ministry of Works in Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, “for his intervention and understanding and the information given to Lagosians that has drastically reduced bottlenecks all over the lsland.”
Engr. Umahi who spoke at the opening ceremony, expressed gratitude to Hitech who “gave us a lot of support, materials, and equipment… All through the night, they were bringing materials, they were bringing equipment.
“We also thank very highly our partner Buildwell, in this expert bridge. I absolve them of any blame in this circumstance. I’d rather thank them. They have been working in the past three days and nights, and we are grateful for their cooperation and for the partnership that has helped us to restore this bridge,” the Minister stressed.
The reason for the closure of the bridge, he assured, was not for pleasure but for a technical failure of the approach slab, which affected the strength and utility of the bridge.
He, however, expressed displeasure that the right procedure for the closure was not followed, and that was the reason why the public was taken unawares.
He said, “so, the reason for the closure was not for pleasure. It was because it became very dangerous for commuters to use the place. But we didn’t do it in the right way. And now, we had a design for the project, and I’ve looked at the design that we intended to use by using God’s wisdom and grace and experience, and we have agreed to redesign the project. It’s going to be redesigned as one span in a bridge.”
Umahi used the occasion to roll out a new policy direction on measures to follow before a federal road is closed nationwide, such that going forward, a feedback mechanism through stakeholders’ engagement would be a condition precedent that must take place before approval for closure of federal bridges/roads of essential utility such as those in Lagos State.
He added, among others that the person seeking such closure must state “what is to be done on that place, and then will state the technical problems and the technical solution. He will be able to put up all these exposures to the public. So, we request comments from the public and tell them how long it is going to last. And so, with this feedback, everybody is in the know, and then we’ll be able to do that.”
