The federal government has ordered the opening of the Second
Niger Bridge for use, in order to ease traffic in the south-east during the
festive season.
The bridge was officially opened on Thursday midnight.
Babatunde Fashola, minister of works and housing, who gave
the order on Wednesday at the inauguration of the bridge, said it will be
opened for use for one month during the yuletide.
He noted that the bridge would be closed to traffic on January 15, 2023.
The minister urged motorists plying the bridge to drive
safely and responsibly in order not to defeat the purpose of constructing the
project.
The federal government had announced last week that the
project would be opened to traffic on December 15, 2022.
Speaking at the inauguration, Fashola said President
Muhammadu Buhari’s purpose of completing the bridge was to save lives and
alleviate poverty caused by wasted hours resulting from gridlock on the old
First Niger Bridge.
He said the opening of the Second Niger Bridge would reduce
the sufferings of commuters who always experienced traffic congestion during
the yuletide.
“A lot of people have talked about a solution but the
President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration decided to build the bridge
whatever it took. So, wherever the funds came from, investment income, from our
oil assets, repatriation of some funds that were stolen out of Nigeria came in
from the US,” Fashola said.
“The result is now what we see. When people are talking
about poverty, the biggest part of it is not the monetary poverty, is the
multidimensional poverty.
“When you spend two to three days trying to cross a bridge,
that’s poverty, because it should take just a few minutes so that you can go
and do more productive things.
“The President approved that since the bridge is finished
that we should create an access road so that during Christmas you can begin to
experience what it would feel like plying the bridge.
“The maximum speed limit on Nigerian roads is 100km per
hour. Don’t drive 101km per hour. The President will be happy to see users
drive safely and responsibly while using this road especially during this
Christmas and New Year seasons. The President wishes you a merry Christmas and
Happy New Year.
“It would be open for traffic going from the west to the
east from the 15th Dec, 2022- 15th January 2023.
“Let me be clear
again; we haven’t finished construction work on the bridge but we would open it
for people to use to relive the pressure from the one bridge. On the January
15, 2023, we would reverse that movement for those coming from the east to the
west.”
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