Who built the first Niger Bridge?

With the 2015 election, our President, who never seems to give a damn about the important things bothering Nigerian citizens, is suddenly waking up to the reality of having to face the electorate again very soon. What does he tell us or specifically the Igbo who at one point he said were the ones that […]

With the 2015 election, our President, who never seems to give a damn about the important things bothering Nigerian citizens, is suddenly waking up to the reality of having to face the electorate again very soon. What does he tell us or specifically the Igbo who at one point he said were the ones that gave him the votes he got in the North and for whom, before the last election, he promised to build a second Niger Bridge?
When I checked Wikipedia on the internet and other sources, it was clear that if anyone should take credit for the first Niger Bridge, it was the head of the first civilian government in Nigeria, the Prime Minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa whose government gave the contract for building the bridge to the French company at the cost of 5 million Nigerian pounds, a job that was executed in one year between 1964-1965. Indeed the commissioning of the first Niger Bridge which took place on the 4th of January 1966 was one of the last official assignments of the then Prime Minister before his assassination in the military coup of 15th January 1966.
Before the libations for the successful execution of the second Niger Bridge dries off, it may be good for the audience of Mr President to ponder on why in this day and age, the proposed 1.8 kilometre bridge should cost 117 billion naira and take 4 years to build, when the same company has built a 1.8 kilometre bridge on the Lagos lagoon for 29 billion naira? It is also good to remember that the flag off of the construction of the same bridge was done by former President Obasanjo a
few weeks to the end of his term in 2007, something now repeated 7 years later. Igbo Kwenu!

Senators, nobody attacks without reason

Next to the Boko Haram outrage in the North East, the most heart-wrenching episode of insecurity in this country right now is the on-going clash in Benue State between farmers and pastoralists. Everyone wants to see an end to them, but the first step I think is to tell one another the truth.
Which was why I found comments on the crises made by Senators from Benue State, namely Barnabas Gemade and George Akume, to be disingenuous. Gemade, who represents Benue North East in the Senate, condemned what he called recent “Fulani herdsmen’s attacks on Logo, Katsina Ala and Kwande Local Governments” in his senatorial district. He condemned what he called “frequent attacks by Fulani herdsmen in parts of the state.”
For his part, Senate Minority Leader Akume said, “The attacks on the communities we represent at the National Assembly are being carried out by well armed groups. Survivors of these vicious attacks have told us that the attackers have automatic weapons that are far superior to those of the police.”
No one doubts that vicious attacks took place. What worries me is that the two senators conveyed the impression that the attacks are one-sided, that their constituents did nothing untoward and just found themselves under attack from pastoralists. This is not possible. Most communities in Nigeria know the pastoralists very well. They are all over the place looking for pasture and water for their cattle. In most cases they are very peaceable, and even in Benue State they coexisted very peacefully with the native communities for many decades. The problem is that when they do get into a fight, usually centred on their cattle, they do not seem to know when to stop. Unlike other communities that forgive and forget once the main fighting is over, the pastoralists tend to exact revenge even after their opponents have forgotten that a fight took place.
So Distinguished Senators Gemade and Akume, by all means seek peace in Benue State and in Nigeria; but if your constituents rustled some cattle, don’t gloss over it. Ask them to return them to the owners.