The Official opening of the Second Niger Bridge will take place from 12:01 AM on Thursday, December 15, 2022, to Thursday, January 15, 2023, as confirmed by Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works.

Fashola, during the inspection, took a walk around the bridge and urged motorists to use the bridge safely and responsibly to ensure the project's success.

The Minister said that opening the Second Niger Bridge would relieve the gridlock experienced by the motoring during Yuletide.

He also said that it would be counterproductive if users of the bridge would become reckless and attract unnecessary mishaps upon themselves.

Fashola said;

“A lot of people have talked about a solution but the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration decided to build the bridge whatever it took. So, wherever the funds came from, investment income, from our oil assets, and repatriation of some funds that were stolen out of Nigeria came in from the US.

“The result is now what we see. When people are talking about poverty, the biggest part of it is not the monetary poverty, is multidimensional poverty.

“When you spend two to three days trying to cross a bridge, that’s poverty, because it should take just a few minutes so that you can go and do more productive things.

“The President approved that since the bridge is finished that we should create an access road so that during Christmas you can begin to experience what it would feel like plying the bridge.

“The maximum speed limit on Nigerian roads is 100km per hour. Don’t drive 101km per hour. The President will be happy to see users drive safely and responsibly while using this road especially during this Christmas and New Year seasons. The President wishes you a merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

“It would be open for traffic going from the west to the east from the 15th Dec, 2022- the 15th of January 2023.

“Let me be clear again; we haven’t finished construction work on the bridge but we would open it for people to use to relive the pressure from the one bridge. On the January 15, 2023, we would reverse that movement for those coming from the east to the west.”

Great job