By Ebuka Onyekwelu, Ph.D
Ahead of the official visit to Anambra State by Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Anambra State Road Traffic Management Agency (ARTMA), Engr. Emeka Okonkwo, has said that the Agency is fully prepared for a hitch-free movement across Anambra State on Thursday despite the closure of the First Niger Bridge by the Federal Government for maintenance. According to Engr. Okonkwo, the MD of ARTMA, “there will be zero traffic on Thursday,” notwithstanding that the Niger Bridge is closed for major maintenance from Monday, September 7, till September 21.
On Thursday, September 10, during the first official visit of Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, to Anambra, the State is expected to play host to national visitors accompanying the First Lady to Anambra State, where she will be commissioning the Southeast Food Bank in Anambra State, an ICT hub at the Federal Polytechnic Oko, as well as empowering thousands of women and the elderly in conjunction with Anambra’s First Lady, Dr. Nonye Soludo.
Engr Okonkwo, who spoke on the closure of the Niger Bridge, also expressed confidence in ARTMA’s plans and the competence of the officers to manage the traffic challenge from the closure of the Niger Bridge. Speaking, he pointed out that the first thing the Government of Anambra State did was to put all alternative diversions in absolute good form. “The major thing is that all diversion roads are 100% usable. We first of all identified all the possible diversions where we could divert vehicles either coming into Anambra or leaving Anambra. After that, we liaised with the Ministry of Works to make sure that those roads are completely usable. So palliatives have been done. If those roads are bad, it will seriously affect movement,” Engr. Okonkwo said.
However, the challenge is beyond merely fixing alternative routes. “Now that we have fixed all the alternatives, the next thing is: how do you get people to know that the road is closed? First of all, let people coming into Anambra know that Bridgehead is blocked because it’s worse when drivers move all the way towards the Bridgehead and then find out that it is blocked; diversion then becomes harder. So, we have placed our officers along that area, and we have also installed road signs. If you are driving from Awka towards the Bridgehead, you will start seeing our signs before the Nkpor / New Parts Flyover; from there, you can divert and link up to the Second Niger Bridge through Obosi. Also, at the foot of the Upper Iweka Flyover, you will see our diversion signs asking road users to go through Owerri Road, from where you can also link to the Second Niger Bridge,” Engr. Emeka Okonkwo said. A third option is available for those close to the Bridgehead. They can go through the Hero Factory road and link up the second Niger Bridge. “We expect the commercial vehicle drivers operating from Bridgehead to use this option,” ARTMA MD explained.
Speaking on possible challenges he envisaged, the ARTMA MD assured that for Thursday, there is absolutely no issue with traffic management because the activities are mostly unconnected with Onitsha or the Niger Bridge. But for the remaining twelve days that the First Niger Bridge will be closed, he said it will not be easy. “It is not going to be easy, but we will do our best to manage traffic to ensure that people keep moving. With that, we can achieve our goal for the next two weeks,” Engr. Okonkwo concluded.
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