Lagos Pedestrians Cry Out Over Ojota Bridge

Lagosians who use the Ojota Pedestrian Bridge are not happy about the level of congestion and near-stampede situation which they daily witness at the crossing. This is why they are crying out to the Lagos State Government to do something about their plight.

The rush hours, People & Power observed, are the most terrible for pedestrians wishing to cross over the expressway using the bridge. Such times, the bridge is far too small and narrow for the volume of human traffic it must carry. Pedestrians, as a norm, resort to queuing but the queues run almost endlessly.

The Ojota Pedestrian Bridge was rebuilt and modernised by the government of Babatunde Fashola. It is obviously one of the most beautiful bridges of its type in the state and it is complete with a roof.

The Ojota Pedestrian Bridge was erected to check the incessant deaths of people who were knocked down by motor vehicles while running across the expressway. The Lagos-Ikorodu Expressway is one of the widest and busiest roads in Nigeria.

Seeing that both the edict enacted against running across the expressway and the presence of law officers at bus stops such as Ojota could not totally solve the problem, the state government though of another measure. It erected several kilometres of fencing on the median to ensure that those who might want to disregard the bridge did not have a crossing.

This is what led to the congestion being experienced by Lagosians at the crossing. Even the presence of Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) officials at the bridge to ensure order has done little to solve the problem.

“We need more bridges here,” says a pedestrian waiting on the queue, Mr Femi Adeniji. Elderly Pa. Leonard Okpa is of the same view with Adeniji. He says: “We have to obey government order. We know what we are passing through to cross to the other side of the expressway. This bridge is not enough but what can we do? We are helpless. If government can do another bridge, we will appreciate it.”

Mr Sunday Dairo is appreciative that the government has greatly reduced deaths on the expressway by providing the bridge. He however wants the bridge expanded and modernised so it would suit both old and young as well as people with physical challenges.

Miss Ebunoluwa Onadeko adds a note of humour to it all by saying the stress people witness at the bridge is part of exercise. However, she supports the people’s plea that the state government provides another bridge.

Mr Samson Onigbinde, a KAI Officer at the bridge is neutral. He says: “I am here to monitor and direct people to do the right thing. The staircase is demarcated into two—one side for those going up and the other for those coming down. People should not, because they are in a hurry, cause confusion by crossing to the wrong side to obstruct the traffic.”