Sanwo-Olu Blames Cranes and ‘Iconic Cane’ as Ojota-Opebi Bridge Misses Another Deadline

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has offered yet another explanation for why the Ojota-Opebi Link Bridge remains closed to motorists, blaming contractors who are still waiting for large cranes to arrive and an architectural feature he described as an “iconic cane” structure. The governor made the disclosure on Thursday during a dinner with selected journalists in Lagos, according to TVC.

Sanwo-Olu said the government did not want to open the bridge and then shut it down again before the contractors brought in the heavy equipment needed to complete the remaining work. He said the contractors had assured the government that the job would be finished within two weeks. “They’ve assured us that in another two weeks, it should be completed,” he said. If that promise is kept, the bridge would open towards the end of September.

But Nigerians have heard these assurances before. The Ojota-Opebi Link Bridge has missed multiple completion deadlines, and each time, the government has offered a new excuse and a new date. In December 2023, Sanwo-Olu said the bridge, which was about 65 per cent complete at the time, would be ready by the second or third quarter of 2024. In June 2024, the state government said the project would be completed before the end of that year. Neither deadline was met.

In April 2026, President Bola Tinubu sent Senate President Godswill Akpabio to commission the road. Akpabio stood before cameras and declared: “The Ojota-Opebi Link Bridge is more than a road; it is a bridge to opportunities.” The bridge was not open then, and it is not open now. On September 3, 2026, Sanwo-Olu again said the bridge would be opened before the end of September, promising to install an “ark” and turn the bridge into a tourist attraction.

Now, less than two weeks before the end of September, the governor is still talking about cranes and an “iconic cane” structure. The question Nigerians are asking is simple: if the bridge was important enough for the President to send the Senate President to commission it in April, why is it still not open in September? Why did the government celebrate a project that was not finished? And why should Lagosians believe that two more weeks will make any difference when two years of promises have produced nothing but delay?

The Ojota-Opebi Link Bridge is supposed to provide an alternative route connecting Opebi, Mende, Maryland and Ojota, easing traffic on some of Lagos’s most congested roads. For the thousands of motorists who endure hours of gridlock every day, the bridge represents relief that has been promised but never delivered. Sanwo-Olu can talk about cranes and cane structures, but Lagosians are tired of excuses. They want the bridge open. And until it is, every promise the governor makes will be treated with the skepticism it deserves.

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