In a statement yesterday, Ohanaeze Ndigbo said the Second Niger Bridge is a key national infrastructure with immense socio-economic benefits not only for the contiguous states but also for the entire nation.
The group, in the statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Alexander Ogbonnia, recalled that the clamour for a Second Niger bridge became necessary shortly after the Nigerian Civil War.
He added: “The first Niger Bridge was commissioned in 1965 and shortly after, the Nigerian civil war broke out in 1967. The bridge was therefore not exempted from the devastating effects of the war.
“The Second Niger Bridge has been a major concern to the Igbo for over 50 years because of two major reasons; apart from the traffic logjam on top of the bridge, the greatest fear was that the bridge had evidence of cracks such that the stress of weights on the bridge could collapse all the vehicles and their contents into the River Niger with untold consequences.
“Based on the general clamour for a Second Niger Bridge, the former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, in 1992, challenged Nigerian engineers to come up with a design of the second bridge. It was believed that upon completion, the bridge would ease traffic flow, allay fears, improve road safety and create greater road user confidence among the commuters.”
He recalled that several administrations had used the Second Niger Bridge as bait on the Igbo, especially during political campaigns.
“When President Buhari promised that he will complete the Second Niger Bridge, not many believed, especially when he could not conceal his lopsided political appointments and other resource allocations against the South East,” he said.
He disclosed that the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prof. George Obiozor, in company of several All Progressives Congress (APC) government officials had on February 6, 2021, visited the site wherein he enthused that the ‘people of the Southeast would continue to be grateful to the present Federal Government for hearkening to the needs of the Ndigbo.’
“And now, we are almost there. Surely, President Buhari did not start the work on the bridge, but in a maladjusted society where the abandoned projects far outnumber the completed ones, to deliver a vital infrastructure that should have been taken for granted attracts immense jubilation amongst the Igbo,” he said.
Ogbonnia appreciated the President on the Second Niger Bridge, praying that he uses the remaining few months in office to pursue some other transcendental objectives that would write his name with gold in the sands of time.
