Independence Bridge: Sanwo-Olu Apologises To Lagosians After Wednesday Traffic

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has apologized to Lagosians who were left stranded in hours-long gridlock owing to the repair work going on at the Independence Bridge in Lagos.

Recall that the closure of the Independence Bridge for repair left thousands of Lagosians grounded in the area between Wednesday evening and early Thursday.

This was gathered after videos and photos of stranded commuters in the area went viral on social media.

In an update on Thursday morning, Governor Sanwo-Olu visited the area to inspect the level of work.

He apologized to Lagosians over the traffic situation, saying more should have been done in communicating with residents of the state over the development.

“First, I think what is appropriate is really to first tender apologies to all our citizens and to all Lagosians for the very, very difficult, erroneous practices that we experienced in the last 24 hours in the city and within the island of Lagos,” the governor who was accompanied by his deputy Obafemi Hamzat and other government officials said while inspecting the project.

“I think this apology is important so that we can take full responsibility as a government, both at the national and sub-national levels, for just taking our people through an unfortunate incident.

It was all well intended, it was all for good causes, and it was all for us to avert a future disaster that was waiting to happen.”

Recall that last month, the Lagos Government said it was closing the Independence Bridge in the Victoria Island area of the state for two months for emergency repairs.

The government asked motorists to use alternative routes during the period. However, on Wednesday evening, when the repair work began, thousands of commuters and other road users were locked in a severe traffic jam, prompting a public outcry.

Videos of motorists and other road users stranded in the gridlock quickly went viral on social media.

Many of them left their vehicles and trekked several kilometres to reach their destination while hundreds of others spent hours, even to the early parts of Thursday, on the road.