While Nigerians are anxiously awaiting the completion of the Second Niger Bridge, life is increasingly becoming a mini hell for those who use the existing 56-year-old Niger Bridge.
The Niger Bridge, popularly known as Onitsha Bridge Head, sprawls across the River Niger from Asaba in Delta State to Onitsha in Anambra State, and was built in 1965. It serves as a link between the South East and South West parts of the country.
Following the volume of daily vehicular traffic which has already affected its structural integrity, government considered it imperative to construct a new bridge, now known as Second Niger Bridge.
Today, human factor has made a journey through the bridge, which ought to be a simple exercise, a nightmarish experience for motorists and travellers who use the bridge.
Presently, commuters are groaning under what they describe as nightmare unleashed on them on daily basis, by government officials that barricade the road, whether at the Onitsha end or Asaba end of the bridge.
Travelling by road should ordinarily be an alluring experience as it offers the opportunity to explore the countryside- state to state. Some years back, many, including the rich, who could afford air ticket, would rather choose the road. It used to be a lovely experience many craved for.
Today, the reverse seems to be the case. Millions of Nigerians who can barely afford air ticket would spend fortune flying rather than risk travelling by road.
Asides high-level insecurity punctuated by kidnapping for ransom, highway robbery and mindless killing, gridlock that ensures that travellers spend days and nights on the road, has turned travelling by road into a nightmare.
Some of the motorists who spoke with BusinessDay SUNDAY said the situation has continued to impact negatively on their lives and their businesses. They also said that many travellers have had to die suddenly as a result of the trauma they suffered while in the gridlock that lasts for seven hours, sometimes.
They urged the governments of Anambra and Delta States, as well as the Federal Government to intervene over the situation, because, according to them, the situation is giving the country a negative image that is capable of driving away intending foreign investors.
They also called on the Federal Government to expedite action on the completion of the Second Niger Bridge.
As Yuletide season approaches, concerned Nigerians have expressed fears that without curtailing the excesses of soldiers, policemen and Federal Road Safety officials, whose activities on the bridge inflict excruciating pain on innocent citizens, travellers would end up sleeping for days before they could cross the bridge, with the expected increasing volume of movements.
The Niger Bridge connects Delta State in the South-South and Anambra State in the South-East. The bridge also connects the eastern Nigeria with the western Nigeria. It is believed that business operators in Asaba, Delta State depend on Onitsha, the commercial nerve centre of Anambra State, for purchase of their goods and wares; hence, they must cross the Niger Bridge to buy from Onitsha markets.
A traveller, who identified himself as Johnson, lamented to BusinessDay SUNDAY how he spent seven hours between Onitsha and Asaba on Friday, October 30, 2020. Narrating his experience, Johnson said, he left Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital on the fateful day by 8:45 am and got to Onitsha by 2pm.
For Johnson, if the journey from Uyo to Onitsha was sluggish and uninteresting, the unexpected was waiting for him in Onitsha, as he couldn’t reach the Onitsha head bridge until 9:pm.
“It was the most traumatising experience I have had travelling. We got stuck in gridlock as we approached the Onitsha to cross into Asaba. It was a lock-horn.
“We were compelled to alight from the bus we were travelling in and stayed on the road not knowing how and when the horrendous gridlock would ease off. We eventually passed the night on the road somewhere around Edo State, as we observed it could be dangerous to proceed to Lagos that night,” said Johnson.
Narrating his ordeal on the road, Chizute Nnaocha, a commercial bus driver (Asaba-Onitsha), in an interview with our correspondent, expressed sadness over the gridlock on the route.
“I’m not happy at all. We are suffering on daily basis. Soldiers are there; Federal Road Safety officials are there; police are there; members of taskforce are there. They are all at the same bridge and there is no other road. They cause traffic gridlock while demanding money from commercial motorists,” he said.
Nnaocha complained that it has become hell to cross the Niger Bridge.
“I’m not supposed to spend more than 30 minutes going from Asaba to Onitsha, but these days, I spend almost four hours going. Then, to come back is another trouble. Now, passengers complain and insult us because we now charge them exorbitantly. Normally, we charge them between N150 and N200 from Asaba to Onitsha, but because of the gridlock, we now charge between N300 and N500. In this situation, you can only go three trips instead of up to nine trips a day,” he said.
According to him, “Our vehicles get overheated because of the hours of gridlock. Sometimes, the clutch suddenly develops fault. With all the challenges, before you know it, the vehicle has developed engine problem and it’s packed up because there is no money to repair it. This is what we encounter on a daily basis on that route.”
He called for the intervention of the Federal Government, saying, “FG must remove these officials because they are causing nightmare for road travellers on that route. They are unleashing pain on us and they are causing serious damage to the nation’s economy. It can only be well with the nation when the citizens are doing well.”
Sylvia Ibeh, a dealer in plastic wares and household items in Asaba, who said she has been on the business for eight years, lamented that the ugly situation at the Bridge Head keeps getting worse day by day.
“Most times, we end up crossing over with bike. And it is a high risk venture. We do mostly when we buy goods in Onitsha and it becomes difficult to bring it into Asaba. We pay double the price of transport and that affects the prices of goods in Asaba because definitely when you spend much to bring in your goods, you split the money over all your items that you’ve bought and you sell at a higher rate. Even the retailers are complaining. Most times, you lose a lot of customers because one keeps explaining to them about the situation of things to no avail,” Ibeh said.
Urging government’s intervention, she said: “If the government can hearken to our cries and come to our rescue by doing something about the bridge, we would be glad
“It’s true that some times, accident scene contributes to the gridlock, but the major factor is the police and soldiers that mount roadblocks, closing half of the road. They should stop because 50 percent of the gridlock is caused by their actions. I’m just coming from Onitsha now and I didn’t see them today (November 30). The road and the roadblocks are not there. So, the road is free today because they didn’t come out,” she said.
“Since #ENDSARS protests, the army, police, Road Safety and taskforce have been there and I will tell you that they are not checking anything. They only task the commercial drivers, collecting money from them. They don’t even check vehicle particulars. The cars just stop, give them money and if you don’t give them money, they will do one or two things. I don’t know the kind of punishment they give them (those who refused to give them money). So, by these actions, the traffic gridlock continues to increase,” Ibeh further said.
She challenged the Anambra State Government to take action on the alleged criminal activities of some touts “because the touts that assist the police and army in collecting the money are from Anambra State.”
According to her, “Most times, you buy goods; you drop your goods to wait for bike, the touts will charge you for dropping your goods on the floor. You have to pay. They do a lot of taxing unlike in Asaba.
“Yes, the yuletide is here and if nothing is done, the way it is now, it would be worst when we enter the yuletide fully. Obviously, it’s getting worse every day and there is no hope. You just wake up and anything you see on the road you look for ways to tackle it. That’s just the way we live these days.”
“If Delta State can establish a big standard market, then there won’t be need for us to go over to Onitsha in Anambra, to buy goods because it’s like going through hell. We appeal that the construction of the second Niger Bridge be completed because it would ease the gridlock, and serve as alternative route,” she said.
Josephine Nwafor, Asaba resident and dealer in men’s wears, urged government to lessen the suffering of citizens by checking the activities of soldiers, police and other agents on that route.
Lydia Oguh, a resident of Asaba and leather bags’ seller, said: “We are confused. Let government intervene on that road.”
Chika Ikechukwu, dealer on clothing and resident of Asaba, who said that she spends more than N400 on foods and snacks while the gridlock lasts for about four hours, recounted how it affects her purse and business.
“Now, with the yuletide season already here, our fears have increased. The gridlock would even ground our businesses after the long hours and days we may end up spending on the road, if the Federal Government, Anambra and Delta States Governments continue to ignore our plights,” she bemoaned.
The same way Asaba business community laments, ditto, all those who travel through the Niger Bridge for one thing or the other, and they are hoping that government pays serious attention to their cries.
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