The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has appealed to Lagosians over inconveniences experienced as a result of the closed Independence Bridge.
Naija News reports that Governor Sanwo-Olu said the closure of the bridge was regrettable but necessary to save the lives of its users.
Speaking with newsmen on Thursday morning when he paid a visit to the bridge, the Governor urged Lagosians to support the government’s effort to make the bridge safe for road users.
He stated that if ongoing works on the Independence Bridge were not kicked off, road users could risk sinking in the water as it was already old.
His words: “First, I think what is appropriate is really to first tender apologies to all our citizens and to all Legosians for the very, very difficult, erroneous practices that we experienced in the last 24 hours in the city and within the island of Lagos. I think this apology is important so that we can take full responsibility at the government, both at the national and sub-national level, for just taking our people’s duty. And unfortunately, it was all well intended, it was all of good causes, it was all for us to address the future disaster that was waiting to happen.
“But you know how likely there’s never the best time for you to be able to do all you want to do. There will always be challenges, even when you think that this is the best time to do these things. So what has happened here is that the builder has a contract. This contract has been signed over three years ago, which is to preserve the integrity of the Independence Bridge.
Independence Bridge today is one of the oldest bridges in the country. And if we put it to date, I’m sure you’ve got to check it, it’s maybe almost 80, 90 years old, Independence Bridge, which connects, you know, Victoria Island from the Bonny camp into the Marina side of Lagos Island. And it’s been, it’s been the oldest, even in this entire corridor. But what has happened is this approach end, from Victoria Island going into Marina, has been under severe threat.
So what the builder had done over the past couple of years, first, was to stabilize beneath, which we can’t see. They’ve done a whole lot of sheet piling underneath the bridge to protect and to hold the integrity, you know, this well. But the real job is that there’s like a 15 to 20 meters span on the bridge, which is sitting on nothing.
“Over the years, erosion has gone underneath and it’s sitting on nothing. So that is indeed an imminent disaster that’s just waiting to happen. One day, God forbid, if the part of the bridge just collapsed, it will take you right into the water. So they’ve been on this conversation on what is the best time for us to move in and solve this problem once and for all.”
