By Ahmad Bandiya

The plethora of bridge projects being constructed and commissioned underscores President Muhammadu Buhari’s pledge to bridge the gap between poverty and prosperity by investing in critical infrastructure that eases the transportation of people and goods from one part of the country to another.

From the abandoned to the disused, many strategic bridges across Nigeria are being rejuvenated and rebuilt by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. Noteworthy is the Loko-Oweto Bridge, which crosses River Benue, and connects Oweto in Benue and Loko in Nasarawa; making it a strategic road linking Eastern and Northern Nigeria.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan awarded the project to Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) in November 2011 at the cost of N36 billion and an initial completion period of 48 months. Typically, by the time his government was voted out of power in the 2015 election, the project was barely at 20% completion.

However, when the Buhari administration came into power, it prioritised many such bridges across the country.

Buttressing this then is the current Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, who said, “The federal government of Nigeria and President Muhammadu Buhari, have expressed a very clear commitment to finishing the ongoing and abandoned projects. We are focusing on the completion of ongoing projects; this (Loko-Oweto Bridge) is one of the many ongoing projects.”

The new Loko-Oweto Bridge (with access roads) has been completed and is now open for use, offering a shorter route for travellers and reducing travel hours to their barest minimum while facilitating the redistribution of wealth in the local communities.

Fashola said, “This is a bridge that connects the North and South of Nigeria; Oweto in Benue and Loko in Nasarawa, which links you to the Federal Capital Territory. This is a major strategic transport route connecting this part of the country and all those coming from the East of Nigeria.

“Motorists don’t have to go through Lafia. If you climb the Oweto Bridge across the River Benue, land in Nassarawa, you’ll be landing around Keffi. So, it cuts off 103km from that journey from Otukpo to Abuja, which is about three hours. It used to be six hours plus.

“This is strategic also for providing prosperity and lifting people out of poverty, because if the saying that time is money is true, everybody who saves three hours has three hours extra productivity and also consumes three hours less fuel and travel time and so on.”

The minister described the new bridge as the most dependable fortress against tomorrow’s bad weather, adding, “It brings people together and lays the foundation for job creation, economic growth, and agricultural development.

The main bridge is 1.835 kilometres in length while the smaller bridge is 220 metres, bringing the total length to 2.055km. Aside from the bridge construction, the works also include the construction of a 3,850 metre-long approach road at the Loko end; a 3,090 metre-long approach road at the Oweto end; and a 550 metre-long road linking the two bridges at the Island separating the southern and northern bridges.

Some of the factors that delayed the project were a change in alignment/design aimed at placing the bridge closer to Loko-Oweto communities with the attendant economic benefits, reducing the length of the approach roads from 22.4 kilometres to about 6 km, and diverting it from swampy terrain.

Noteworthy also is that the long abandoned Ikom bridge on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon in Ekot-Mfum, Etung Local Government Area of Cross River, has been replaced by a newly constructed 1.5km two-lane bridge.

Construction of the bridge began on April 28, 2017, and was completed in March 2021, at the cost of N35.9 billion. Funding of the project by both countries. The old Ikom Bridge was constructed over 60 years ago by the Gen. Yakubu Gowon military regime.

Unarguably one of the most important investments in the South-south, Fashola reiterated that, the bridges would increase the prosperity of the people, facilitate hundreds of jobs, movement of agro produce and manufactured goods, joint border patrol that would lead to security efficiency, and position both nations to harness and maximise the benefits of the free trade zone agreement.

His words: “This is the A-4 axis coming from Calabar to Maiduguri through Ogoja to Katsina-Ala. So, you will expect more volume of trade. And it is no accident that Cross River State bears its name. It is the river that named the state. That river opens to the sea and the Gulf of Guinea. And so a high impact on international trade is expected.

“We have had a very strong relationship with Cameroon in terms of trade and business, and if you go to Aba, Enugu, Abakaliki, for example, this is the route that facilitates trade, agro produce, merchandise, manufactured goods from Aba in Abia State.

“This is a very strategic infrastructure to take Nigeria to the future for many more decades to facilitate the relationship between brothers and sisters in Cameroon and Nigeria and to strengthen the bond of relationship in a joint development with the Republic of Cameroon and Nigeria.”

The Ikom and Loko-Oweto Bridges aside, Fashola announced that 37 other bridges across Nigeria were being constructed, repaired, or rehabilitated like the 3rd Mainland Bridge in Lagos, the Murtala Mohammed Bridge in Koton Karfi and the Isaac Boro Bridge in Port Harcourt; Chanchangi Bridge in Niger State, linking Niger and Ilorin, and the Tambuwara Bridge in Kano.

Despite limited resources and having to borrow, Fashola further stated that this administration was doing almost the impossible in terms of infrastructure and that President Buhari, has continued to give his support, commitment, and understanding of the purpose of infrastructure for growth and development.

..Bandiya wrote from Kaduna.