Recent reports on the poor state of some bridges in Lagos, especially the Ijora-Apapa bridge, call for a comprehensive audit of the status of these bridges by the Federal Ministry of Works, with a view to repairing them expeditiously.
Worrisome reports on some of these bridges indicate that they could collapse at anytime, if comprehensive repairs are not carried out on them.
No doubt, the bad condition of Apapa/Ijora bridge and others in other parts of the country should worry the officials and agencies in charge of maintenance of roads and bridges in the country.
The Ijora/Lagos bridge, which is part of the Eko Bridge complex, was initiated by the Gen. Yakubu Gowon administration and later completed during the regime of Murtala Muhammed and Olusegun Obasanjo.
Due to aging and lack of adequate maintenance, the condition of the bridge has become deplorable, with many potholes and loose expansion joints. Worse still, petrol tankers park on this bridge while waiting to load fuel at the Apapa Ports. It is also reported that the bridge has not been maintained for some decades in spite of the fact that over 3,000 container-laden trucks and other articulated vehicles are said to ply it on a daily basis.
Motorists who ply the bridge have become increasingly worried about its state and the Federal Government has a responsibility to lay their minds at rest by repairing this bridge immediately. Apart from the Third Mainland Bridge and Eko Bridge that are routinely maintained by the government, the Ijora-Apapa Bridge and some other flyovers that carry heavy vehicular traffic in Lagos do not enjoy such treatment.
We call on the Federal Ministry of Works to urgently audit all federal bridges and quickly rehabilitate all the distressed ones. The worsening condition of bridges in the country is not limited to those in Lagos. Many other bridges are begging for attention in different parts of the country.
It is time for those in charge of our roads, bridges and other infrastructure to develop the culture of regular maintenance of these public facilities. Without adopting a maintenance culture, these public infrastructure will not last long.
Government should also find a solution to the perennial traffic hold ups on some of these bridges. It should ban petrol tankers from parking on the bridges to save them from imminent collapse. The parking of heavy duty vehicles on these bridges does not only shorten their lifespan, it poses a great danger to road users.
As the nation awaits Federal Government intervention on the repair of these bridges, we advise the affected state governments to assess the situation of the facilities, take urgent remedial steps on the critical ones and request for a refund of their expenses from the Federal Government. It is sad that the Ijora-Apapa Bridge is among bridges that the past administration promised to rehabilitate but it did not do so. Since government is a continuum, the current administration should prioritise its repair.
Good enough, the current Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has governed the state before and is quite aware of the condition of this bridge and others in Lagos. We urge him to repair the bridge now that he is in a vantage position to do so.
He should use his good office to ensure that all dilapidated bridges across the country are put in good shape. He should also give premium attention to the maintenance of public facilities. Let there be a culture of routine maintenance of roads, bridges and other infrastructure in the country.
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