Beyond Politics of Third Mainland Bridge Repairs
The ongoing but deserving resurfac- ing of the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos, is a commendable feat worthy of the current pains being persevered by the people of the state for an otherwise enduring gain.
It is public knowledge that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, in spite of its many inadequacies, paid very good attention to the repairs of the bridge, an otherwise critical national asset.
Away from the familiar superficial repairs of infrastructure, especially roads, the former administration under the direct supervision of Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, then Minister of Works and Housing, undertook critical substructural repairs of the bridge.
From replacing the pile caps to fixing the expansion joints and the bearings – the core of which were done right in the lagoon – what is being done today is nothing compared to what had prepared the bridge for the resurfacing.
Thus, what is visible is what is being driven on, while what could actually kill is what no one could see, but which the Buhari government had fixed for the bridge to be certified usable beyond its smooth surface run.
Therefore, beyond the attempt to demonise the former administration as if the ongoing resurfacing is all that the bridge represents, is the need to situate the politics in context, without throwing away the reality that government is a continuum.
In other words, the resurfacing of the Third Mainland Bridge by the Bola Tinubu administration would not have been possible without the substructural repairs done by the Buhari government, not forgetting also that the resurfacing leg of the repairs had also been awarded by Buhari before the current government, decided to change the contractors, for whatever reasons.