Fed Govt Reopens First Niger Bridge
By Goodness Ndukuba, Awka
Federal Government on Thursday reopened the First Niger Bridge for traffic, connecting Onitsha in Anambra State to Asaba in Delta State after more than one month rehabilitation.
Dave Umahi, the Minister of Works, reopened the bridge alongside federal and state representatives, including traditional rulers from Anambra and Delta states.
Recall that the bridge, linking Onitsha in Anambra State to Asaba in Delta State, was built in 1965 and closed to traffic from Sept. 7 to 21 to allow for emergency rehabilitation and maintenance works following the discovery of vandalised structural components, including its expansion-joint steelwork.
The closure, initially scheduled to end on Sept. 21, was extended indefinitely due to persistent rainfall and other unforeseen circumstances which caused delay.
Performing the opening ceremony at the Onitsha end of the bridge, Umahi said President Bola Tinubu has worked so hard for the South-East and the people need to reward his hard work by voting for his re-election on January 16, 2027.
Umahi said the necessary infrastructure has been fixed to ensure free flow of traffic, adding that the rehabilitation works carried out were aimed at easing traffic and ensuring the safety of road users.
He said, “We have every reason to thank the governors of Anambra and Delta states.
“We must commend the contractors, SKCC, very, very highly; they have worked very well. We are not 100 per cent done because we are going to do. The evidence of what we are doing today is a total testimony that President Bola Tinubu is indeed detribalised Nigeria.
“What other regions are getting, the people of South-South and South-East are getting it. And so why should we not appreciate the President? If the President, God forbid, were not the President in 2027, do you think that any of these people, marauding will have the capacity, the audacity, the courage, the wisdom, the pedigree to do this?
“For how many years, we had Enugu-Onitsha Road, nobody could pass it. Why was there no governor that intervened.
“We have no regret supporting President Bola Tinubu. Let me declare in opening this bridge that I have no regret supporting Mr. President.
“I am very, very proud for him to be my boss. He is the most qualified and eminently qualified to lead this country.
“And so, by the power of Mr. President and in our deep appreciation of what he has done for the people of South-South and South-East in this bridge, it is my humble pleasure, and with gratitude to God Almighty, to open this bridge for the benefit of our people, in Jesus name.”
