A Disaster in Waiting

 
Davidson Iriekpen writes that the continuing silence over the poor state of the Ijora-Apapa Bridge in Lagos could cause an unimaginable traged
For those constantly plying the Ijora-Apapa Bridge in Lagos, the road has become a journey of great discomfort. While the discomfort is not so much about oil tankers and container-bearing trucks plying the bridge or converting it to a park, it is about the fear of the bridge coming down at any moment. Many are of the view that if any bridge is likely to collapse in Lagos any time soon, it is the Ijora-Apapa Bridge, owing to its dilapidated nature.

The bridge, which is a major entry route into Apapa, where Nigeria’s most utilised seaports; Wharf, Tincan and Apapa Ports are located, is part of Eko Bridge complex that was started at the end of the General Yakubu Gowon’s administration and completed during the Murtala Muhammed/Olusegun Obasanjo regime.

While efforts have been made on many occasions to repair the Third Mainland and Eko Bridges, no attempt has ever been made to look at the Ijora-Apapa Bridge. Today, the bridge is not only littered with potholes and craters but accumulates water when it rains.

Besides, all the expansion joints that help keep the bridge in form and facilitate smooth ride are believed to have loosened up, creating deep ditches, with very negative impact on traffic flow. For those who regularly ride on the bridge, it is evident that it is now seriously wobbling, a development experts warn portends serious danger to the public and goods that are taken through the bridge to and fro Apapa. For them, the impact and the damaging effect on their cars is mostly felt any day the bridge is free of its usual gridlock, enabling them to run at about 40 k/ph and above.

Investigation by THISDAY revealed that the Apapa-Ijora Bridge has not received any major maintenance for over three decades now despite bearing the weights of heavy-duty trucks and tankers carrying dry and wet cargoes in and out of Apapa on a daily basis. Over 3,000 container-laden trucks, petroleum tankers and other articulated trucks ply the bridge every day.

Almost on a daily basis in the last one year, these container-laden trucks, petroleum tankers and other articulated trucks are seen parking on the bridge waiting to enter Apapa to either convey goods or discharge at the ports. Sometimes, some of the trucks spend as much as three days on the bridge without anybody challenging them. The state of the bridge became worse due to the total collapse of the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, especially the Tincan first gate and second gate axis.

While many observers are thanking God that the bridge was constructed at the time when emphasis was still being placed on quality use of materials for project execution, they are equally wondering if the government would allow the bridge to collapse as a result of negligence.

To know that beside the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which is the highest income earner for the federal government, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is the second largest revenue earner for the government and the gateway to the ports is neglected is baffling to the many pundits.

Recently, an expert, Afolabi Adedeji, said the bridge was in need of urgent attention if a disaster of monumental dimension is to be averted. Adedeji, managing director of Ethical Business and Management Associates, warned that the continued delay in attending to the dilapidating bridge has made it a disaster in waiting. According to him, the bridge is one that requires regular maintenance because of pressure coming from the volume of traffic it carries. He warned that Lagos, having evolved from capital city to economic nerve centre of West Africa, the economy of Nigeria would be at risk “if the bridge was allowed to get to a point of failure. “If this happens in the morning, the casualty figures will be unimaginable,” said Adedeji, who added that it was time the Federal Ministry of Works stepped in.

If the alarm raised by Adedeji was considered a not too serious to be taken seriously, former Lagos State  Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who after inspecting the road linking the bridge and the bridge itself recently, instantly noticed its dilapidated state. Fashola said he had alerted the federal government on the continuing widening of the expansion joints on the bridge. He said his government had written a letter to the Federal Ministry of Works drawing attention to the development.

“The Apapa-Ijora Bridge expansion joints have widened so dangerously that it is a nightmare to drive on it. I have sent the report of some of the studies we did to the Federal Ministry of Works showing what needs to be done and how much it will cost to do them,” said Fashola during a visit of the Martin Luther Agwai-led Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) committee to his office.

Besides Fashola, his then Commissioner for Environment now Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Tunji Bello, while monitoring the efforts to stop indiscriminate packing and illegal encroachments along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway and Ijora recently, also raised the alarm over the state of the bridges, calling on the federal government to conduct an expert assessment over their safety.

Bello, who lamented the damage to the bridges in Ijora, said the federal government needed to act quickly to avoid calamity. He said: “You can see that there are cracks and partial structural failure. This is a major defect. The coast is clear for the Federal Ministry of Works to move in now and access structural integrity of the bridges.”

Unfortunately, the lamentations did not make the state government to carry out at least minor repairs such as resurfacing of the most critical part of the road. Since then, the bridge is going worse.

Besides the seaports and offices in Apapa, the area is home to a lot of eminent personalities who are already moving out in their large number due to the difficulty in going in and out of the area.

Recently, the Chairman of the Apapa GRA Residents’ Association (AGRA), Brig. Gen. Sola Ayo-Vaughan (rtd) raised an alarm on the state of the bridges, saying that all its joints have widened. He said if any of the bridges collapsed, there would be mayhem, chaos and economic disruption.

He added: “There is imminent danger anytime, if care is not taken with the tonnage on it, it can collapse. Repair is going on now on Eko Bridge but construction repair has not been done on Apapa Bridge and it takes more tonnage than any other bridge. It is surprising that NNPC is the highest income earner for the federal government while next to it is the NPA and, the gateway to NPA is neglected.

“It is going to be disastrous both to the oil sector and to owners of goods coming out of the ports. The federal government is pretending not to know or somebody is just not doing his job.” Fear of the bridges imminent collapse, he said has driven most motorist to the alternative road under the bridge, “I go by the side under and come out at the Naval Base, climb the bridge and go on. Some motorists are abandoning it already.” The bridge, he said, should be evaluated. “The joints on the bridge keep widening. There is urgent need to carry out repairs on the whole bridge.”

When THISDAY sought the opinion of a Lebanese businessman who resides in Apapa and begged not to have his name in print, he exploded: “I have travelled round the world, no where have I ever seen this except in Nigeria. Thousands of container-laden trucks, petroleum tankers and other articulated trucks parking at the same time on a bridge and they are unchallenged? This is lawlessness taken too far on the part of the drivers and negligence taken too far on the part of the government. It is a sin. When the bridge comes down, Nigerians will begin to apportion blame as they usually do.”

The federal controller of works, South-West zone, Godwin Ekeh, recently promised that plans were ongoing to repair damaged expansion joints in some bridges in Lagos including the Ijora-Apapa Bridge. He said though challenged by funds, the Federal Ministry of Works intended to start with the Eko Bridge from August 18, 2014 and gradually move to other bridges. But over six months after, nothing has been heard on the state of the bridge.

Before now, many had thought the complete neglect of the bridge was because of the lack synergy between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led federal government then and the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Lagos State government. But those who thought that the victory of the APC at both the federal and state levels would immediately be seen on the Ijora-Apapa Bridge would have to wait until the unimaginable happens.

source: thisday