The Second Niger Bridge will be available for use beginning at midnight on Thursday, according to a federal government order (today).
The Minister of Works, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), said this on Wednesday as he officially opened a bridge that will be open for a month over the holiday season.
During the inspection, Fashola walked around the bridge and told everyone who drove on it to be careful and sensible so that the bridge could be used the way it was meant to be used.
The minister emphasized that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), finished the bridge to save lives and reduce poverty caused by the loss of work hours on the old First Niger Bridge because of traffic jams.
Many individuals have proposed solutions, but the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is determined to do whatever it takes to complete the bridge, he said. Therefore, the money originated in the US, regardless of where it came from—investments, profits from our oil assets, or the repatriation of some money that was embezzled in Nigeria.
The result is what we see now when people talk about poverty. Multidimensional poverty, not financial hardship, is now the biggest part of poverty.
“Poverty is trying to cross a bridge for two to three days.” This should only take a few minutes, allowing you to go on to something more useful.
“The President approved that since the bridge is complete, we should build an access road so that you can start to get a feel for how it would feel to traverse the bridge over Christmas.”
The maximum speed restriction on Nigerian highways is 100 kilometers per hour, the minister continued, emphasizing the necessity for drivers to abide by the speed limit law. Don’t go 101 km/h on the road. The President will be pleased to see people use this route in a responsible and safe manner, especially during the Christmas and New Year holidays. From December 15, 2022, until January 15, 2023, it would be open to eastbound traffic only.
“Let me be clear once more: We haven’t finished building the bridge, but we would open it for traffic so that the one bridge would be less congested. We would reverse that movement for people traveling from the east to the west on January 15, 2023.
