A Lagos pedestrian bridge

Eromosele Ebhomele

Deputy Majority Leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Olumuyiwa Jimoh, has said it was time to force Lagos residents to save their own lives by using the pedestrian bridges scattered around the state.

Jimoh said it was lamentable that many Nigerians living in the state have continued to risk their lives dashing across highways and major roads even with the provision of pedestrian bridges and the constant enlightenment campaigns carried out by the government on the effective use of pedestrian bridges.

Jimoh however said the level of indiscipline experienced in this regard is the result of the indiscipline that had taken over the people over the years.

“The people now see it as a normal way of life to dash across the expressway even when they stand directly under the pedestrian bridge.

Officials of the state government recently enforced a directive to stop incessant and dangerous crossing of the road in the Ojota area of the state and some pedestrians complained of having to waist time on queues to use the bridge.

The complaint led the government to announce it would construct another pedestrian bridge to complement the one in the area.

Jimoh called for patience with the government saying the latter was implementing its constitutional task of ensuring the safety of lives. He further emphasised the commitment of the state government to construct the bridge as promised.

“There is nowhere in the world where you cross the express road. A lot of people have died on our roads. And unless pedestrians are constrained to use the pedestrian bridges, deaths would continue to occur.

“The government has announced the construction of another pedestrian bridge in Ojota.

“Spending up to 40 minutes to cross the pedestrian bridge does not give one the right to kill oneself. I just returned from Istanbul and you don’t cross roads like we do in Nigeria,” adding that though the new bridge is not specified in the 2016 budget of the state, it could be constructed through the contingency fund which is part of the budget.

“We are moving Lagos beyond what it is and traffic now better across the Ojota axis,” he said of the effect of government’s recent action in the area.

“Over time, people would be used to crossing the bridge. I know there is a contingency fund in the budget which would take care of the bridge.

The state Commissioner for Information, Steve Ayorinde, said recently that the new bridge to be constructed in Ojota would make provision for pregnant women and people with special needs.