By By Habeeb Ibrahim
Five months after the Opebi-Mende-Ojota Link Bridge was commissioned, the Lagos State Government is yet to open the major infrastructure to motorists.
The 5.04-kilometre bridge was commissioned on April 8, 2026, with Senate President Godswill Akpabio representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the ceremony. The project connects Opebi and Allen Avenue to Mende, Maryland and Ojota, providing an alternative route towards Ikorodu Road.
The bridge was designed to ease pressure on major roads around Opebi, Allen Avenue, Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Maryland and other parts of Ikeja by providing a direct alternative route.
However, despite the commissioning, access to the bridge has remained restricted, with reports in July and August showing that work was still ongoing around parts of the project.
The situation recently drew fresh public attention after questions were raised over why a project that had already been commissioned was yet to be opened for public use.
Responding to the concern, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Gboyega Akosile, said the bridge itself had been completed before the commissioning.
Akosile explained that the state government decided to add an architectural feature to the project after determining that the bridge needed something distinctive that would also preserve the history of the Cane Village community.
According to him, the contractor was asked to develop a design that would reflect the history of the area. The design was subsequently approved by the state Executive Council before the structure was produced abroad.
Akosile said the additional work was delayed by about 90 days because of shipping.
“The bridge itself was already delivered to us before the commissioning,” Akosile said.
He explained that the additional structure was not part of the original bridge construction but an aesthetic feature introduced afterwards.
Akosile also said the commissioning date was not changed because of the additional work, noting that the President had already provided the dates for the commissioning of the projects.
“There was no need to change it because of those additional aesthetics,” he said.
The development means that while the main bridge infrastructure had been delivered before its April commissioning, motorists have continued to wait for the completion of the additional work before gaining access.
The delay has been particularly significant because the bridge is expected to provide a major alternative route for commuters travelling between Opebi, Mende, Maryland and Ojota.
At the April commissioning, Akpabio described the 5.04-kilometre project as an infrastructure that would ease congestion, reduce travel time and improve economic activity in the affected areas.
The project, which was constructed by Julius Berger Nigeria, was conceived more than two decades ago during Tinubu’s tenure as Lagos governor and was eventually executed under the Sanwo-Olu administration.
In September, Sanwo-Olu said the bridge would be opened to the public before the end of the month, with the remaining work including the installation of an architectural feature intended to make the bridge a tourist attraction.
