₦airaland Forum

The Niger Bridge was recently rehabilitated and barriers were placed on the bridge to create a median.

Some people claimed that the bridge was a two-lane road and that the median would create traffic jams. They claimed that nobody would be able to pass the bridge if a vehicle broke down on it. This is not true.

The bridge is actually a four-lane bridge and vehicles are able to go past any broken down vehicle on the bridge. This video illustrates that point.

A minibus broke down on the bridge and a large truck was able to go past it without problems.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpEB82wz0HI?si=6nIgycdsVLTLe-35

Some people also claimed that the barriers were too heavy for the bridge. They made this claim without knowing the weight of the barriers and the load bearing capacity of the bridge.

In actual fact the barriers were placed there to solve that problem.

Quite often vehicles drive against the flow of traffic, thereby blocking vehicles coming in the opposite direction. This causes traffic jams and increases static load on the bridge. All those cars that are stopped in traffic on the bridge are heavier than the barriers that were placed there.

The new system eliminates this problem. The lanes have been properly demarcated, there is space to go past any broken down vehicle and there are junctions so that vehicles can make U-turns and the bridge can be decongested.

However some people are also advocating that large trucks should be banned from the Niger Bridge and made to use the Second Niger Bridge instead.


Speech by the Honourable Minister of Works, Engineer David Umahi, at the reopening of the Niger Bridge after rehabilitation works

The representative of the governor of Delta, my brother Charles who is commissioner of rural roads and public infrastructure and my friend the representative of the governor of Anambra state, the honourable commissioner for works. The leader. . . deputy chief of the 10th Senate, Barrister Onyekachi Nwaebonyi. Your majesty the Asagba of Asaba, your majesty thank you very much. Thank you. Your majesty the Igurube 1. I'm told. . . They have given me your resume and I think that the two of you are so powerful that I want to be a friend to two of you. Thank you very much, your majesty who is in charge of this side of Anambra State. The SSAs to Mr. President South-South, South-East. The director of bridges and design, the content creator that alerted us on the dangers of this bridge. Let me stand on protocol and please, you know, my brothers and sisters for want of time.

My gratitude goes to the president of Federal Republic of Nigeria.

You know when we had issues with the Third Mainland Bridge, we were alerted and we went there and we renovated it. We put solar light, we put asphalt, we put CCTV to oversee what is happening below the bridge and on top of the bridge and the entire Nigerians, especially Lagosians they appreciated Mr. President, they appreciated the minister of works.

When we were alerted on this bridge, we immediately came. This content creator alerted us and we immediately came. We reviewed the bridge. We reviewed the problems of the bridge. People were removing bolts. This bridge is basically built on steel frames and so removing the bolts was very dangerous, you know, the removing of the bolts and cutting the iron, they were dangerous events that would have collapsed the bridge. We also noticed that there was no maintenance since 1966.

That bridge was built and commissioned by the then prime minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Tafawa Balewa. And so we had to now re-lay the asphalt. Exactly the treatment we gave to the Third Mainland Bridge is the treatment we give to this place.

And we also did a median demarcation because bridges are not built for static loads. And so the engineers, emergency engineers began to talk. Content creators began to talk. And I think there are some people that are very mad. You talk what you do not know. You are not an engineer. Some of you didn't even go to school. You just talk. Even one lady that is an IPOB spokesperson who has turned to become an Obidient spokesperson was even talking, calling me out and talking all kinds of rubbish.

The bridge is standing and for reasons of. . . to instill discipline in the use of this bridge because if you continue to use the bridge, it is designed for 50 years and so if you continue to load this bridge by reason of static loads and indisciplined ways of driving on the bridge then the bridge is going to be endangered and when it's endangered we are all going to suffer it and that's why we put the median.

We also created some turn around, the passages, three of them so that if you have a breakdown then you'll be able to maneuver through the U-turns and that is what we have done.

We put in CCTV here, we've loaded the bridge with solar light and we are building observation center at both ends of the bridge so that the security will stay there and monitor what is happening below and under.

And let me place it on notice to the two directors of Delta and Anambra. The law given by the Federal Government is that there should be no dredging of sand 10 kilometres radius in every of our bridges. But I'm seeing dredging of sand even 20 metres away from these bridges. I am placing it on notice that I will bring disciplinary action against two of you if the dredging fails to stop.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Saw_iXlSQ?si=ie25T_ZP9vq4WVKp

Speech continues.

"Let me tell the people of South-East, it is what you vote on January 15th, 2027 that is our right to brag, that is our right to negotiate. Let us not be very very funny. Let us not be very very sentimental. Let us stop the hate speeches and increase the new wave of renewed hope. This is a man that has cleansed our tears. We should be wise. I want the elites to educate our young people. I want our people to begin to talk. Educate our people. People darken counsel without knowledge. Let them know that democracy is about development, it's about infrastructure, it's about inclusiveness. The president has done that.

You cannot be telling me, "I will". We are talking about what we are doing, you can be saying about what you will not do, but we are talking about what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing all over the country.

And we are here in South-East to declare that South-East is for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Whether you like to hear or not, by 16th the people of South-East will demonstrate. Forget about the social media rats, people that. . . how are you frightening people and you say that you want your son to be president? And you are frightening people, you are insulting people.

So all the people of the South-East if they vote for our brother Peter Obi, will that make him president?

And even if he were to be president, can he do what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing through this man"? (the minister pats his chest).

So we need to be wise, we need to know that we have been integrated, we need to know that we have been honoured even when we didn't vote for the president in 2023.

And of course I said that there are reasons why we didn't vote, because the last administration did not treat South-East well. There was no military appointment, there was no infrastructure and today we are having military appointment. I am a testimony to that military appointment. We have the chief of naval staff, we have the minister of space engineering, we have that minister, we have a lot of infrastructure which we never had before, so we have the bragging right to tell our people that we have been included.

And let us not miss this opportunity, let us pay President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with out votes.

THE WAIT IS OVER! 🇳🇬

Movement across the First Niger Bridge has resumed after rehabilitation by the Tinubu-led Federal Government under Works Minister Dave Umahi.#FirstNigerBridge #RenewedHope2_0 pic.twitter.com/ueUqo5s9PX

— Osborne_Osberry (@Osberry_Osb) October 16, 2026

More photos of a large truck going past a minibus on the Niger Bridge.

The truck has gone past the minibus.

There was never traffic problem on the bridge but now, it will start. There is actually no need for the median.

"There was never traffic problem on the bridge".


2012

Heavy Traffic Hold Up At Onitsha Bridge Now
https://www.nairaland.com/909399/heavy-traffic-hold-up-onitsha

2013

2 Die Of Exhaustion At Onitsha Bridge Traffic
https://www.nairaland.com/1489318/2-die-exhaustion-onitsha-bridge

2022

Christmas Day: Unusual Traffic On Niger Bridge
https://www.nairaland.com/7495808/christmas-day-unusual-traffic-niger


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB9i-vZA5ec?si=BPOZ-rNPqP9OtJNq

2023


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs6XPivDShM?si=UibYCq5xxaWbx6aR

This is simply a mere bypassing and not a case of overtaking.

Both vehicles must be in motion for one to overtake the other.

1Alex:
There was never traffic problem on the bridge but now, it will start. There is actually no need for the median.

This makes no sense, we've all passed through the bridge and all been held up for hours due to traffic. TBH, most of the time, the congestions are due to police stopping cars to drag them for money and people driving one way, but traffic na traffic.
Secondly, I don't understand the essence of the op's post, did you not see the distance between the truck and the bus? Do you believe the truck would have been able to pass, or vice versa, if both were in motion? What is your aim exactly in making this post?

After watching your video I must tell you that the joke is on you.

That truck passed a small bus with much difficulty.
If it was a bigger vehicle that broke down, that truck couldn't have passed.

Let's start counting the number of people that will not understand the post because they can't read. They will look at the title of the thread, look at pictures and start reacting.

Being a truck driver is like working while playing chess. Always focused to calculate moving a huge mass on challenging roads) or outsmart a civil servant (who wants bribes).

OP just want to prove a pointless point.

All these recordings are not necessary

Nigerians are too indisciplined. That minibus has no business on that road in the first place. If we're disciplined, roads won't need a divider in the first place. We can't even drive in our lane, we honk like jungle people, and don't know traffic laws.

I'm waiting for the first one to quote me.

naptu2:
The Niger Bridge was recently rehabilitated and barriers were placed on the bridge to create a median.

Some people claimed that the bridge was a two-lane road and that the median would create traffic jams. They claimed that nobody would be able to pass the bridge if a vehicle broke down on it. This is not true.

The bridge is actually a four-lane bridge and vehicles are able to go past any broken down vehicle on the bridge. This video illustrates that point.

A minibus broke down on the bridge and a large truck was able to go past it without problems.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpEB82wz0HI?si=6nIgycdsVLTLe-35

question to answer if another truck broke down would a next truck be able to go fru?

erico2k2:
question to answer if another truck broke down would a next truck be able to go fru?

Why are you breaking down on a 1.4km road? What happened to road worthiness before a trip? Many Nigerians cannot survive a truly working country.

erico2k2:
question to answer if another truck broke down would a next truck be able to go fru?

That's why you should read the posts.

Question, if large trucks are diverted to Second Niger Bridge (the same way that large trucks are banned from Third Mainland Bridge), then what is the problem?

If this large truck can go past this minibus, how easy will it be for a car to go past another car.

naptu2:
Let's start counting the number of people that will not understand the post because they can't read. They will look at the title of the thread, look at pictures and start reacting.

As long as a project is done by the APC administration, they'll always have a problem with it. No matter how noble it is.
Since the assumption of the APC government in 2015, I've never seen the majority of them commend any project executed in that part of the country. Infact, till date, some still claim the APC has never done anything worthy in the region.
It's a pandemic of intellectual dishonesty.

Image123:
Why are you breaking down on a 1.4km road? What happened to road worthiness before a trip?

People are just looking for excuses to say something bad.

As the minister said in his speech above, there will be emergency points at both ends of the bridge.

There are also 3 junctions for U-turns.

Furthermore, if large trucks are diverted to Second Niger Bridge, think of how easy it is for a car to go past another car if this large truck can go past the minibus.

Please read the minister's speech above before you comment.

The person making the video is a timid person. His intention was to mock the bridge. But shame catch am. The truck passed.

naptu2:
More photos of a large truck going past a minibus on the Niger Bridge.

The children of DISobidient bandits will soon tell us nah AI video.They'll like to see the left/right tyres to confam. They 8 good news

Checkwell:
The person making the video is a timid person. His intention was to mock the bridge. But shame catch am. The truck passed.

Some are already looking for a way to spin the same video into something negative.

You just show your perspective only. Why didn't you show the other side of the truck so as to verify if the truck had the a good clearance despite no demarcation.

naptu2:
The Niger Bridge was recently rehabilitated and barriers were placed on the bridge to create a median.

Some people claimed that the bridge was a two-lane road and that the median would create traffic jams. They claimed that nobody would be able to pass the bridge if a vehicle broke down on it. This is not true.

The bridge is actually a four-lane bridge and vehicles are able to go past any broken down vehicle on the bridge. This video illustrates that point.

A minibus broke down on the bridge and a large truck was able to go past it without problems?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpEB82wz0HI?si=6nIgycdsVLTLe-35

saintneo:
You just show your perspective only. Why didn't you show the other side of the truck so as to verify if the truck had the a good clearance despite no demarcation.

In fact we need to also show under the truck to determine whether the fishes were safe.

What point are you making ?

naptu2:
The truck has gone past the minibus.

If it was the truck that broke down, how would another truck go past it?

1. If that minibus had a side mirror, the truck would break it when passing.

2. If it was a truck that broke down, another truck may not be able to pass freely.


What has been done has been done, but the fact remains that they could have thought about it differently and explored another sustainable approach.

Mindlog:
If it was the truck that broke down, how would another truck go past it?

Please read through the thread, I have answered this question twice.

That na bus parked pn the side. Make one big truck break down for the middle

erico2k2:
question to answer if another truck broke down would a next truck be able to go fru?

No mind these APC supporters, the demacation makes no sense. If your car breaks down half way, you must go through to the end to find a solution. Time will always expose incompetence.