Second Niger Bridge awaits Buhari’s inauguration

• Work on original bypass suspended, not abandoned
As President Muhammadu Buhari gets ready to inaugurate the multi-billion naira Second Niger Bridge, connecting South South and South East zones, this week, the original access road/bypass route from Asaba, the Delta State capital, to Onitsha, in Anambra State, has been suspended due to paucity of funds and need to put the bridge to use.

Under the original plan, the route was to be close to the Asaba Airport, in Okpanam, to enable travellers bypass Asaba and the commercial city of Onitsha and make their way through Oba to connect Obosi and the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway, as well as the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway, thereby avoiding traffic bottlenecks.

During the last Christmas holidays, a temporary exit route was constructed close to the foot of the Frist Niger Bridge, at the Delta State end, to make it easy for motorists bypassing Onitsha between December 15 and January 15.

Although, it has substantially eased traffic, travellers still had to struggle for the two lanes on the expressway until the point of diversion at Oko.

As the inauguration, which was initially fixed for May 15, but rescheduled to a later date before May 29, draws closer, the Federal Government, through the contractor, Julius Berger Plc, is constructing a dual carriage way before the former Oko exit point/first bridge, thereby suspending the original plan.

It was gathered that the plan is not completely abandoned and would be completed by the incoming administration on availability of funds.

The engineer’s representative for the project, Oluwaseyi Martins, said: “By the original plan, there were supposed to be access roads, Two A and Two B, but due to paucity of funds, the Federal Government decided it is better to construct a link road at the Asaba end, so that the Second Niger Bridge could be put to use. That is what we are working on now. In fact, we had prepared for the commissioning of the bridge yesterday by the President.

“Work has gone far and we are expecting President Buhari to commission the bridge any moment from now. It is when he returns from his trip that we will know the new commissioning date.”