In the 1970s the Federal Government built traffic towers so that traffic officers could stay there and monitor the flow of traffic. Now the police, LASTMA and the FRSC all have drones that they use to monitor traffic.
Detty December: LASTMA deploys drones to monitor traffic
By Dayo Oyewo December 22, 2025
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority has rolled out a traffic control strategy, including the deployment of drones and other technology-driven devices, to ensure seamless vehicular movement across the state during the annual Detty December festivities.
The agency said the initiative was put in place in anticipation of the surge in socio-economic activities usually associated with the yuletide season.
In a statement on Sunday by its spokesperson, Taofiq Adebayo, the agency said it had activated a comprehensive, intelligence-driven traffic management mechanism aimed at guaranteeing free flow of traffic and public safety across Lagos.
According to the authority, highly trained traffic personnel have been strategically deployed, while surveillance and round-the-clock monitoring have been intensified at critical traffic corridors.
“In strategic anticipation of the heightened socio-economic activities synonymous with the annual Detty December festivities, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority has activated a comprehensive, intelligence-driven traffic management and control mechanism designed to guarantee seamless vehicular movement and public safety across the length and breadth of Lagos State.
“The Authority notes that the yuletide season traditionally witnesses a significant escalation in vehicular density arising from concerts, carnivals, end-of-year celebrations, religious gatherings, and other recreational engagements.
“In response, LASTMA has intensified operational readiness through the strategic deployment of highly trained traffic personnel, reinforced surveillance, and round-the-clock monitoring of critical traffic corridors, event hotspots, commercial districts, and major arterial routes across the metropolis,” the statement partly read.
On the deployment of drones, the agency disclosed that they would be used not only to monitor traffic situations in real-time but also to detect security challenges in any part of the state.
“Once any security concern is detected through our drone surveillance, such information is immediately relayed to the relevant security agencies for prompt response,” the statement added.
LASTMA added that traffic management solution devices had also been deployed to capture traffic offenders in real time.
According to the agency, the move was aimed at reducing physical altercations between traffic officers and motorists during enforcement.
“The speed limit devices installed by the government are also to check excessive speed by motorists.” It added.
LASTMA also warned operators of event centres, clubs, lounges and entertainment facilities to ensure adequate parking and internal traffic management arrangements capable of accommodating fun seekers within their premises.
It cautioned that any spillover of vehicles onto public roads, resulting in obstruction or gridlock, would attract decisive enforcement actions.
“Market leaders, traders’ associations, and commercial stakeholders are enjoined to call their members to order by refraining from the unlawful display of wares on roadways, walkways, and pedestrian paths.
“The encroachment on these public spaces compels pedestrians to dangerously contend for right of way with moving vehicles, thereby escalating the risk of avoidable accidents and traffic congestion,” the agency further warned.
It also advised motorists to ensure their vehicles are mechanically sound before embarking on journeys during the festive period, while warning against drunk driving, speeding and other forms of reckless driving.
The agency assured residents that enforcement teams would remain vigilant throughout the Detty December period, clamping down on illegal parking, road obstruction, speeding and impaired driving.
“LASTMA appeals to all road users to cooperate fully with traffic officers, obey traffic regulations, and exhibit patience and civic responsibility, as collective compliance remains the cornerstone of achieving a smooth, safe, and enjoyable festive season for residents and visitors alike.
“Upon any traffic-related issues, members of the public could reach out to LASTMA via our toll-free hotline 080000527862. We have also strategically positioned our high/medium- and low-capacity tow trucks across the state, particularly the Lekki-Ajah corridor, in case of any eventuality.
“LASTMA now uses drones to effectively monitor traffic incidents, inculcating security checkups across the state,” the statement added.
The state had witnessed a high volume of vehicular activity in the last 72 hours, with residents expressing their displeasure over the gridlock it had caused.
These are used to record interactions between traffic officers and members of the public. They also capture evidence that the traffic officer might need.
These are cameras that are installed on traffic light poles and strategic locations across the state. They are able to determine if a motorist is going above the speed limit and the motorist receives a text message that informs him of his offence and how to pay the fine.
The speed cameras were introduced in January 2025.
The Traffic Management Solution is an advance form of the Auto-Inspector. This handheld device is able to take pictures and videos of the offender's vehicle, access the autoreg database and get the details of the vehicle and its owner.
There was a funny post on Twitter in which a member of the public mistook the TMS for a POS machine and she was complaining that LASTMA officials were carrying POS machines.
2) Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras:
The automatic number plate cameras were introduced by the Lagos State Government in 2017 and officially launched in 2018. The cameras were mounted on traffic light poles and at strategic locations across the state.
The cameras are able to recognise vehicle license plates and the system accesses the Lagos Autoreg database to determine whether the car's vehicle license and road worthiness certificate are up to date.
The vehicle owner receives a text message with the details of his fine if he is driving with expired papers. He can choose to either pay the fine or contest it.
The cameras are also used to determine if a motorist has beaten the traffic light. An image of the vehicle is taken when the traffic light turns red and the motorist receives a text message with the details of his fine. The motorist can also check the website and see an image of the car as it is beating the traffic light.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode ordered the Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) off the road because people complained that they cause traffic jams. Instead the cameras were used to determine motorists that were driving with expired papers.
Here are some Nairaland threads about the ANPR cameras.
2019 thread.
There Are 282 Cameras Monitoring Vehicles In Lagos Metropolis - VIS
TheAutoReporter: Sequel to the story we did earlier in the ANPR camera in Lagos, the VIS head of planning and research has this to say on the VIS cameras in Lagos.
Contrary to the stories making the rounds that a camera device located at Alausa Secretariat capturing vehicles with expired fake documents and sending bills to people SMS, an official of Vehicle Institution Service VIS, Lagos State, Engr Olayemi disclosed that there are 282 of such mechanical device installed in many major roads within the metropolis and not in Alausa, Secretariat, Ikeja, alone.
He said the device is called Automatic Number Plate Recognition Device (ANPR) or Number Plate Detector for short.
According to the Head of Planning and Research of VIS, the device only captures the vehicle's number plate and send it to Motor Vehicle License data bank, Insurance Company data bank and Road Worthiness data bank, from where it detects if these documents are genuine or have expired.
When these documents have expired or are fake the device generates a bill and send it to the vehicle's owner phone through SMS.
He said for every infringement committed a bill of N20,000 is generated. A person who defaults in all the three documents will get a bill of N60,000.00.
He went further to say that the device which he is personally monitoring from his own office has captured 276, 284 vehicles number plate out of which 7,135 owners have been billed fines ranging from N20,000 to N60,000, since December 2018, when they commenced full fledge operation.
He confirmed that many prominent Lagosians including commissioners, lawmakers and senior state government officials have been booked and have quietly paid their bills.
A vehicle owner who refused to pay the fine within seven days stipulated in the SMS sent to his phone will have his vehicle blacklisted. Meaning the vehicle will be declared wanted. Wherever such a vehicle is caught by the device again, officials of VIS in such area will be instructed to impound the vehicle.
He agreed that VIO is back on the road not to check particulars but to arrest rickety vehicles or those with overload which the new device cannot capture.
Morbeta11: The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, has disclosed that the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras helped traffic officers record over 850,000 violations in the state.
“The usage of the ANPR to capture other related traffic offences e.g. vehicle moving against traffic; the ANPR captured 856,680 violations from January 2023 to March 2024,” he stated.
He added that to reduce human interface, the Traffic Management Solution devices handled by the VIS officers captured 10, 421 violations between January 2023 and March 2024.
The commissioner disclosed this while giving reports of the ministry in commemoration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s first year in office for a second term as governor.
Govt diverts traffic to check highway bridge Sanwo-Olu took the oath of office for his second term as governor on May 29, 2023, promising in his inaugural speech not to let down Lagosians.
Giving an update at the government’s secretariat in Alausa, Ikeja, on Tuesday, Osiyemi said in order to carry out daily monitoring routine checks through the use of ANPR technology for prescribed particulars violations, 53 of the ANPR cameras were installed at different locations in the state.
He also said traffic officers made use of hand-held devices for enforcement of regulations on rickety vehicles, overloaded vehicles, blacklisted vehicles, unauthorised/illegal and unregistered vehicles, etc.
The Babatunde Raji Fashola Administration introduced the Auto Inspector in 2010 and it was launched in 2011. It is a handheld device that can be used to retrieve the name and address of the owner of a vehicle. It can also check if the vehicle license and road worthiness certificate has expired.
The LASTMA official or policeman can type the plate number of the vehicle into the device and it would show the details. He can also point it at the license plate and take an image of it.
A soldier was apprehended with the aid of the auto-inspector. He had parked illegally on the Murtala Mihammed Wat at the Oyingbo area of Lagos. LASTMA officials tried to book him for parking illegally, but he almost knocked them down with his car and then he fled. A LASTMA official was able to capture his plate number before he fled and his details were obtained. Governor Fashola reported the matter to Major General Kenneth Minimah, who was then the GOC, 81 Division and General Minimah ensured that the soldier paid the fine.
A banker with Stanbic-IBTC who was driving against the flow of traffic on the Lekki Expressway and knocked down and killed a LASTMA official that tried to stop her was also identified with the aid of the auto-inspector.
These are articles about the auto-inspector.
Fashola Launches New Vehicle Checking Device
Published By: PM NEWS Live 3rd August, 2011
Govenor Babatunde Fashola today launched an electronic device to check whether vehicles have valid documents without engaging in manual stop and check of vehicles papers.
The device, Auto Inspector, is the first of its kind in Nigeria and will help to reduce traffic gridlock on Lagos highways occasioned by police stop and check of vehicles documents.
With the device, stolen vehicles can also be easily identified as the device could tell the name of the owners of such vehicles as well as the history of such vehicles.
Launching the device today at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, South West Nigeria, Fashola said Lagos had joined the league of selected cities in the developing world where traffic management and compliance with vehicle documentation regulations had been revolutionised with the introduction of high-tech device.
Traffic congestion experience on Lagos roads is some of the time compounded when traffic control and law enforcement officers stop motorists to check their vehicle particulars and determine their documentation status which hitherto was done manually.
This is avoidable stress and the same purpose of checking particulars and documentation of vehicles can be achieved through automation utilising technology without disturbing the flow of traffic, he said.
According to him, the auto inspector service would enable traffic control and law enforcement officers to simply punch the registration number of a vehicle into a hand-held electronic device and instantly determine the vehicle and vehicle owner's documentation status.
The hand-held auto inspector device will be issued to and used by officers and men of the Nigeria police, LASTMA, VIOs and ultimately, the FRSC. Vehicles that will be screened by auto inspector are those registered in Lagos State which have their updated documentation data including vehicle license, driver's license, hackney permit and road worthiness/MOT captured on the AUTOREG platform which is operated by the Motor Vehicle Administration's technical partner, Courteville Investment Plc, he said. Fashola added that the device would enhance compliance since motorists in contravention were easily identified as the device verifies the validity or otherwise of the vehicle documents instantly. He stated that the device would lead to relative reduction in man-hours wasted in traffic during checks by law officers as well as help to eliminate corrupt practices by law enforcement agents as the status of any vehicle screened was simultaneously captured both by the hand-held device and operators manning the servers at the Automated Registration, AUTOREG control rooms.
It is also a huge boost to our crime prevention and control efforts due to instant data-capturing capabilities. It will also boost e-governance, he said while advising motorists to update their vehicle documentations.
Fashola gives 500 vehicle inspection devices to Police, FRSC, LASTMA
August 8, 2011 By Olasunkanmi Akoni
LAGOS — Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, has distributed 500 Auto-Vehicle Inspection devices to the Police; Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC; Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA and Vehicle Inspection Units as part of measures to improve traffic control in the state.
Fashola who was represented by the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, distributed the hand-held device, during the launch of the auto-inspector vehicle document verification device by Motor Vehicle Administration Agency, MVAA.
Fashola noted that traffic jam on Lagos roads was always compounded because traffic officers were in the habit of stopping motorists to check their vehicle particulars and determine their document status, which hitherto was done manually.
A breathalyzer is a device that determines a person's blood alcohol by analysing a breath sample. The FRSC has been using breathalyzers since at least the 2000s.
Photo of FRSC officials using a breathalyzer to check a motorist's blood alcohol level.
After creation in 1988, the FRSC imposed a speed limit of 100 kmph on Nigerian highways. FRSC officials began using radar guns to detect if a vehicle was exceeding the speed limit. The radar gun emits radio waves and uses the doppler effect to calculate the speed of the vehicle. Here is a 2012 Nairaland thread about FRSC's use of radar guns.
FRSC Acquires Equipment To Check Over-Speeding
Sunofgod: Eket (Akwa Ibom) – Mr Yakubu Attah, Zonal Commanding Officer of the FRSC Zone 6 Command of the commission said on Monday that the commission had acquired an equipment to check over-speeding by drivers.
Attah, an Assistant Corps Marshal in charge of Zone 6 in Port Harcourt, said in an interview in Eket that the commission was also poised to check over-loading.
Attah disclosed that the commission recently took delivery of hand-held radar guns to monitor motorists who drove beyond speed limits.
”Over-speeding and over-loading are of serious concern to the FRSC.
”Recently, the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive, Mr Osita Chidoka, procured some hand-held radar guns to clamp down on over-speeding drivers.
“So over-speeding will soon be a thing of the past, all we need to do with the new drivers’ licence is to take your number and arrest you on the point of renewing your vehicle papers.
“So you may over-speed but you are not far from us, ” he said.
On the recommendation that the FRSC should be scrapped or merged with the police, Attah said that such calls would not be justified, in view of the strategic nature of the commission on safety of commuters on the nation’s roads.
“It is not justifiable because FRSC has come a long way, FRSC is a household name, above all, the FRSC is the lead agency in terms of road safety administration and management.
“It is not justifiable at all, I am of the view that the government should have a re-think, ” he said.
The Zonal Commanding Officer said that he was committed to boosting the morale of the commission’s officers and men as a way of improving their productivity.
He said that Chidoka appreciated the sacrifices being made by the commission’s officers in discharging their duties. (NAN)
The FRSC was created in 1988 and shortly after it was created the Peugeot J5 bus became popular in Nigeria. However, people noticed that the J5 got involved in a lot of accidents and people also said that the bus was very fast.
This issue inspired the FRSC to impose speed governors on commercial vehicles.
Speed governors (aka speed limiters) are devices that prevent the vehicle from exceeding the speed limit. Commercial vehicles that ply Nigeria's highways are mandated to install speed governors and the FRSC has developed a web portal through which it can monitor the use of speed governors (vehicle owners are required to register their speed governors on the portal).
I created a thread about a person that received a fine because he exceeded the speed limit at Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way in Ikeja, Lagos. His infraction was caught by the speed camera.
Helinues came to the thread and said that Nigeria was just catching up with Ghana because he had been stopped in Ghana for overspeeding and the authorities used a handheld device to prove that he was overspeeding. He said that this happened more than ten years ago and that Nigeria was just adopting it.
What he described was a radar speed gun, not a speed camera and the FRSC has been using radar speed guns since the 1990s.
This inspired me to create this thread about the history of the use of technology in regulating traffic law violations in Nigeria.
I remember this DNA episode that was widely publicised in the media a few years back. That young man called Davido isn't telling the truth. He actually met the girl and slept with her. Back then, I recall that the girl gave a comprehensive timeline of the places she met David Adeleke and how she was star-struck and out of youthful exuberance, she had sex with him.
However, she insisted in media interviews that from the time she slept with Davido till the time she got to know she was pregnant, she NEVER slept with ANY other guy except Davido who didn't use a condom. This is where the mystery deepened for me because Davido did the DNA tests in a South African DNA facility of his own choosing and the 2 tests he did came out showing the then baby girl wasn't his.
There are two things that crossed my mind at that time.
1] Either the young lady may have had sperm inserted into private part with the fingers of another male who NEVER had full-blown sex with her and the sperm from the fingers then fertilized the egg.
2] It could ALSO be that the young lady may have been drugged, then a male had sex with her WITHOUT her knowing.
3] It's possible that David Adeleke's DNA tests were rigged in his favor BECAUSE he was the one that chose the DNA paternity testing center himself. This is what the young lady was complaining about in the media after giving birth years ago that the DNA testing company should have been a neutral one and not the one chosen by ONLY Davido.
Those are the ONLY 3 strong variables I can think of.
I hope that little girl finds her real biological father. She has indeed grown up really fast.
Reread my post. Davido said 5 tests were held and 2 of them were done at hospitals of the girl's mother's choice.
You say that the mother said that she slept with Davido, Davido said that he never met the mother = he said, she said.
NPFL Condemns Physical Attacks During Remo Stars, Ikorodu Match
January 16, 2026
The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), has expressed frustration at reports of fracas and alleged physical attacks on fans during and after the Match day 20 fixture between Remo Stars and Ikorodu City at Ikenne, Ogun State.
Remo Stars won, yet their fans attacked harmless away supporters and vandalised their team bus after the derby match.
NPFL Chief Operating Officer, Davidson Owumi, said the league body is unhappy that the alleged attacks took place even after a reconciliation meeting was held with top officials of the two clubs in attendance.
”In the light of the reports and video evidence that are in our possession, the NPFL is inviting the two clubs to an investigative hearing on Monday, January 19 at our office in Abuja,” the NPFL statement read. Owumi said the hearing is to enable the league to get to the immediate end remote causes of the incident and invoke the rules to apply due sanctions to anyone or club found culpable.
Some Remo Stars fans claim that their assistant manager was slapped and several Remo Stars' fans' phones were stolen in Ikorodu when Remo Stars played there last season. They vowed to get their revenge when Ikorodu City went to Remo on Wednesday.
NPFL officials held peace meetings days to the match, but that did not stop what happened on Wednesday.
Videos from within the Ikorodu City team bus show a hostile crowd around the bus while players inside accuse policemen outside of not doing enough to stop the attacks. They also said that Remo Stars officials were around but they didn't stop the attacks.
ElSudani: This is really strange. Why wouldn't he just do the test and move on with his life?
Davido responded to posts about this issue yesterday night. He said that he has done 5 DNA tests, 3 at hospitals that he chose and 2 at hospitals that the girl's mother chose and all showed that he is not the father. He said that he had not even met the girl's mother before she made the allegations. He said that his father made him do some of those tests and they proved that he wasn't the father.
He said that he does not blame the young girl, but her mother should tell her who her real father is.
He said that people should not beg him when he decides to strike.
joseph1832: If IBB didn't build that bridge, who then will we say, built it?
Cc naptu2
It's in the quotes that I posted.
The argument isn't whether IBB built the bridge or not, it's whether IBB built it from scratch.
1) The bridge was concieved by Governor Mobolaji Johnson in the late 1960s, but the Lagos State Government didn't have the money to finish it, so the Federal Government took over.
2) The Federal Government started building it in 1975 and completed the first phase (Lagos Island to Ebute Metta) in 1980.
3) Nigeria had a financial crisis so there was no money to continue and the project was abandoned.
4) Governor Raji Rasaki put a lot of pressure on Babangida to continue (at the commissioning Babangida joked that Rasaki put so much pressure on him that he told his secretary not to allow Rasaki to see him again).
5) When Babangida said that there was no more money, Rasaki told him to take the balance from Lagos State's funds.
6) At a point Julius Berger refused to continue because they hadn't been paid, so Rasaki convinced Chief Bode Emanuel, who was a Lagosian and chairman of Borini Prono Construction Company, that his company should continue the project on credit.
The section of the bridge from Ebute Metta to Oworonshoki was renamed the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida Bridge on Thursday, December 12th, 1991, when the Federal Government moved to Abuja.
Video. President Ibrahim Babangida commissions the Third Mainland Bridge on Saturday, August 17th, 1990, to mark his 50th birthday.
(This is Tonight At 9, which was shown on the Saturday. Newsline, which was shown on Sunday, showed the party on the bridge, which took place after General Babangida had left the ceremony. Sir Shina Peters performed and Governor Rasaki danced. The governor was very happy).
naptu2: I feel compelled to make this explanation because you are the second person that I've seen in the past week that has claimed that Babangida built the entire Third Mainland Bridge.
Once upon a time traffic flowed from the Mainland onto the Island via Carter Bridge. It was distributed across the Island via Nnamdi Azikiwe Road and Broad Street. Broad Street was the financial capital of Nigeria and Nnamdi Azikiwe Street was the home to several large markets, so, as you can guess, they were plagued with massive traffic jams.
The government concieved the idea of building a ring road around Lagos Island and also building several entrances/exits to/from the Ring Road in order to reduce traffic in Central Lagos.
General Yakubu Gowon was thd head of state at that time, Alhaji Femi Okunnu was the commissioner (minister) for works (he was replaced by Obasanjo in 1974) and Colonel Mobolaji Johnson was the Lagos State governor.
What is Ring Road?
Look at the orange road in the first map below. Ring Road begins at the end of Third Mainland Bridge, at a place known as Adeniji Bus Stop, it goes past Ilubirin, Ikoyi Foreshore, Obalende, Onikan, Marina and ends up back at Adeniji Adele.
Marina used to be a beach, like Unilag Water Front. The government poured concrete on it and turned it into a road. The official name of the road is Ring Road, but people refer to it as "Outer Marina".
There was also a little river that separated Lagos Island from Ikoyi. It was called MacGregor Canal. The government reduced the width of the river, gave it concrete sides (instead of the previous sand banks) and it became the giant gutter that you see at Obalende.
I know people who are still angry with Gowon for converting sand into concrete.
Third Mainland Bridge
The government rebuilt Carter Bridge and built Eko Bridge (which was completed in 1975). The government also had an idea of a bridge that people coming from outside Lagos can use to access Lagos Island. This bridge will substantially bypass the mainland and bring traffic directly on to the Ring Road. It would also decongest Ikorodu Road and the Carter and Eko Bridge.
Serious discussions about the "Third Axial Bridge" began in 1974 or 1975 and the first phase was commissioned by President Shehu Shagari on September 30th, 1980 (to mark Nigeria's 20th anniversary).
The Third Mainland Bridge was being used in the 1980s (before Babangida became president), but you had to get off the bridge at the Ebute Metta/Yaba exit (Look at the second map below. You can see the exit at the place where the words "Third Mainland Bridge" is written). There were barriers across the road that prevented you from going further and when you exit the bridge, you could see the place where the bridge came to an abrupt end.
This meant that you had to take Herbert Macaulay Way and Ikorodu Road if you were going to Ikeja and this also meant that there were massive traffic jams on Herbert Macaulay Way.
I remember the great traffic jam of 1989. Eko Bridge was closed for repairs and everybody had to use either Third Mainland Bridge or Carter Bridge.
There was a Queens College girl in my house and she was meant to come home with the neighbours by 3 o'clock. 3 became 4 and then 5 o'clock and she was not home. I phoned the neighbours and they had no idea what was going on. So my driver and I went in search of the two missing girls. The traffic jam was incredible. We were at a standstill on Third Mainland Bridge and when we eventually got to Herbert Macaulay Way I discovered that people were driving against the flow of traffic and cars were facing each other with no where to go.
Policemen from Adekunle and Sabo police stations were overwhelmed and they just hung around and exchanged jokes with motorists.
We eventually got to Queens College and were told that the girls had already gone home and we went back home, got in after dark to discover that she was already asleep.
Julius Berger extended the bridge by a few metres in 1987 and then abandoned it again.
I'll quote Babangida's speech at the commissioning of the second phase of the bridge in 1991. He said that a new governor was appointed in Lagos and the man came to discuss the Third Mainland Bridge with him. He said that the man kept on coming to his office almost everyday to disturb him about the Third Mainland Bridge. He said that he had to tell his secretary not to allow Governor Rasaki into his office again. He said that he knew that he had to complete the bridge if he wanted peace (Governor Rasaki was laughing behind him).
The bridge was completed in 1991 and, when the Federal Government was moving from Lagos to Abuja, the section of the bridge from Ebute Metta to Oworonshoki was renamed IBB Bridge (I still have a video of that ceremony).
So you see, Gowon's government conceived the Third Mainland Bridge, Shagari commissioned the first phase and Babangida commissioned the second phase.
Brigadier Raji Alagbe Rasaki was military governor of Lagos State from July 1988 till January 1992.
Lastly, the third mainland bridge.
Yes, a lot of people do not know that you were instrumental to the construction of the famous Third Mainland Bridge, tell us the full story
By the way, I am very much in support of what Governor Ambode did, by speaking up about his frustration concerning the Airport/Oshodi Expressway. Sometimes, you need to blackmail the Federal Government to get some of these things done. I did the same thing with the Third Mainland Bridge.
I remember General Babangida had come back from a trip and I had gone to receive him, despite the fact that we were using siren, it was tough passing through traffic because we passed through Yaba to Dodan Barracks.
So when we got there, I saluted and turned back. I could see that he was looking very unhappy. Akhigbe had tried with the issue but the next day, I went to Babangida and said, sir this traffic situation is bad, can you please let us sit down and discuss how to finish this bridge.
General (Mamman) Kotangora, who was the Minister of Works, said the end, that is the Oworonshoki side is a built up area and it will be impossible to navigate it. I said sir, can you please give me the map, they said it is with Julius Berger.
When I left there, I went to Julius Berger, I got the map, and in the process of checking that map, I saw the Coastal Road up till Calabar, that was how I began the Coastal Road. That map is there, we can still look at it. So I went to him and said, Sir I know this is a Federal Project but it is my people that are suffering, can we do this 50-50. If we can’t pay, you can take it from source.
That was how we then introduced the Development Levy, it was for the Third Mainland Project mainly. That was when Gani Fawehinmi took me to court. I was not bothered because I knew we were doing something that will benefit majority of Lagosians.
We then started work, we had got half of the way, I think that was around 1989, I believe I had just lost my wife. Babangida now said, there was no money. I said that is not possible. I told him, I have been to Abuja, I saw what is happening there, so I told him: the method you are using in Abuja, let us use it in Lagos, even if we are going to use oil to exchange for the funds because Lagos was too critical to the nation’s economy.
Bode Emmanuel used to be the Chairman of one of the construction companies, that is how we became close. I told him you are a Lagosian, please let you company continue the job, we are working on payments, I also called Julius Berger and gave them assurances. There was one Dafinone that also came to our rescue, we then also told Government to collect some of the money from source too.
That was why I was on that site every day to ensure that work was going on as scheduled.But we had a problem at Oworonshoki, one Baale and one Imam, came, they were complaining about the houses that were in the right of way, I told them, please this road is greater than all of us, nothing must stand in its way.
They were still complaining. I just kept quiet, I went to the Army Engineers, I think Ihejerika was in charge of the Army Engineers, I told them I want that place cleared for the road in 24 hours. I told them that they should clear everything on the path of the bridge on the weekend, so that they cannot go to court and stop us. Fadayomi was my Commissioner of Justice and Baba (Teslim) Elias was with us, I also went to Rotimi Williams, they said start the operation by Friday and before they can go to court on Monday, you have completed your operation. I loved that idea.
I was happy with the kind of advice I got . Just as we were talking, one man came in from Julius Berger, a very nice man that I worked closely with during the project.
He said, I should not use Army Engineers that there was another way we can do it, that if we use the Army, we will be blackmailed.I said I don’t care. We cleared the bridge area, there were no houses for many metres, but today, the plan was to allow space in case there is future expansion.
But today I have seen houses on both sides, when I noticed that Ambode was doing some work there, I thought he will bring down those houses, that is the difference between the civilian and military government. We do not care about re-election, we just get the job done. When we cleared the place, off course, the people went to court, but the deed had been done and that was how Justice Esho used the word Executive Rascality, and you the media starting singing about it, but we did not let that disturb us. Today, we are all enjoying the Third Mainland Bridge.
A contract was awarded for a third mainland bridge in 1976. Construction of the bridge was done in phases. The first phase was contracted to a PGH consortium, a venture consisting, Impressit Girola and Borini Prono, while Trevi Group provided support services for piling. The first phase was designed to be 5 kilometers in length, starting from the Island and ending at Ebute Metta, towards Yaba.
Video: President Shehu Shagari commissioning the first phase of the Third Mainland Bridge on Tuesday, September 30th, 1980, to mark Nigeria's 20th Independence anniversary.
Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson was the administrator of the FCT, Lagos from 1966 till 1967 and governor of Lagos from 1967 till 1975.
What were the projects you planned to execute during your tenure but for reasons of time and financial constraints, you could not?
I wasn’t happy with the transportation system in Lagos, and I particularly felt bad about the waterways that we could not fully exploit. I sent a delegation abroad to look for flat bottom boats that could take passengers across the waterways. I wasn’t happy with the transportation system and would have loved to see a better system in place. One of the ideas I had was to construct the 3rd Mainland Bridge. Don’t forget, the 3rd Mainland Bridge was a creation of the government of Lagos State and not the Federal Government. The Federal Government only took it over at a point in time when we didn’t have enough money and, therefore, included the project as part of the state’s contribution to second Five-Year Development Programme of the Federal Government in 1972. I went abroad and was surprised to discover that the headquarters of Julius Berger was located in the same area with the hospital where I went for medical treatment. I met Mr Whitman who later served as vice chairman on the board of Julius Berger. His first job in Nigeria was the construction of the Itoikin Bridge that links Lagos with Epe.
During my meeting with Mr Whitman and his team of engineers, I showed them what we were planning for the ring roads around Lagos. I believe people getting out of Lagos should have free ways that they can use. The concept I had for the inner ring road and outer ring road was to have pillars erected to the middle of Herbert Macaulay and Murtala Muhammed Way with the pillars supporting a network of highways on the top like the ones I saw in Tokyo, Japan. I believed we could achieve same in Lagos. The Julius Berger team looked into my concept and came up with a blueprint ready for my submission to the Federal Government. That was how Julius Berger and an army of officials came all the way to Lagos. Work began in earnest with the engineers in boats and canoes crisscrossing the body of water over which the 3rd Mainland Bridge and its ring roads would be built. At Marina, they proposed sand filling as the best option so as to be able to gain more useful land, in addition to solving the traffic problem on that axis. I was thinking we could use the idea of the 3rd Mainland Bridge to sand fill a sizeable portion of the water front of the University of Lagos and adjoining areas and create a big motor park where a park-and-ride system of transportation would be available to take passengers from the Oworonshoki area into Lagos, where you will equally take a taxi or a bus to wherever you are going on the Lagos Island and when you are through with what you came to do on the Island, you will be taken back by boats across the water to where your car is parked at Oworonshoki. That was one major project I would have loved to accomplish but couldn’t. To date, our waterways, I must say, are still largely underutilised.
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