How Elumelu, Dangote Facilitated The Timeous Repair Of Lagos’ Independence Bridge

FUNSHO AROGUNDADE

The Minister for Works, Engr. David Nweze Umahi, has sent words of appreciation to Africa’s leading businessmen Tony Elumelu and Aliko Dangote for their roles in timeous repairs of the Independence Bridge in Victoria Island axis of Lagos State.

The failed section of the bridge was shutdown for repairs work on April 2, 2025 resulting in what many have described as an unprecedented traffic gridlock ever witnessed in the state.

Engr. Umahi singled out the two billionaires for appreciation while speaking at the reopening of the bridge for traffic on Friday, April 4, 2025.

His appreciative comment was against the backdrop of the two wealthy individuals’ concerns, calls and encouragement as well as offering their airplanes for use during the fixing of the bridge.

Engineer Umahi who equally extended his gratitude to President Bola Tinubu, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Hitech and host of others said: “So, we remain grateful to Mr. President. We also thank the Governor for his intervention and understanding and the information given to Lagosians that has drastically reduced bottlenecks all over the lsland. We are grateful.

“We are grateful for Hitech. Hitech gave us a lot of support, materials, and equipment. We are very thankful to Hitech. All through the night, they were bringing materials, they were bringing equipment. We also thank very highly our partner Buildwell, in this expert bridge.

“I absolve them of any blame in this circumstance. I’d rather thank them. They have been working in the past three days and nights, and we are grateful for their cooperation and for the partnership that has helped us to restore this bridge. And, of course, to Chief Elumelu and some other prominent Nigerians like Dangote, for their calls and encouragement. They even  requested that they send their planes to carry us, and we said no.”

The Minister noted that the reason for the closure of the bridge was not for pleasure but for a technical failure of the approach slab, which affected the strength and utility of the bridge.

He, however, expressed displeasure that the right procedure for the closure was not followed, and that was the reason why the public was taken unawares.

“So, the reason for the closure was not for pleasure. It was because it became very dangerous for commuters to use the place. But we didn’t do it in the right way. And now, we had a design for the project, and I’ve looked at the design that we intended to use by using God’s wisdom and grace and experience, and we have agreed to redesign the project. It’s going to be redesigned as one span in a bridge,” Umahi said.