2nd Niger Bridge: 8,110 indirect jobs created, 1,486 people directly employed – Minister

Abiodun OBA

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said that the Second Niger Bridge has enabled the creation of 8,110 indirect jobs with 1,486 people directly employed.

Featuring at the Special Weekly briefing coordinated by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said that the Second Niger Bridge was one of the cardinal projects of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

This is as the Federal Government has claimed that the sit-at-home in the Southeast has affected the pace of work at the 2nd Niger Bridge.

Recall that the bridge was billed for completion on February but was delayed due to the COVID-19 lockdown and EndSARS protests.

The briefing was to enable him provide further updates on key collaborations between the Federal and the State Governments in the implementation of some of the major reforms being executed by the Ministry and the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF).

The Minister puts the cost of three major PIDF projects at N1.3 trillion.

The projects are Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Expressway (375km): N797 billion, Second Niger Bridge (11.59km): N206 billion and Lagos-Ibadan Expressway (127km): N310 billion.

On when the projects will be completed, Fashola said that Lagos-Ibadan Express Way and Second Niger Bridge are on course to be completed this year 2022, while the main Carriageway of Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano expressway is scheduled for completion by Q2 2023, adding that ancillary works will be completed later.

Meanwhile, the minister has warned motorists to shelve the temptation to exceed 100km/h on completed roads, to avoid crashes.

He said the warning became necessary when he got messages from some of the road users commending the quality of work done, who said they were doing 150, 100km/h due to the smoothness of the roads.

He also decried the sale of Premium Motor Spirit and other petroleum products on the roads, saying they deteriorate the roads faster.