How The Independence Bridge Closure Brought Lagos To a Standstill

How The Independence Bridge Closure Brought Lagos To a Standstill

On the 31st of March 2025, the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos,Olukorede Kesha announced that the Federal Government had closed the Independence Bridge (Marina Bound) for essential maintenance and rehabilitation until the end of May 2025. 

This sudden closure of the bridge with inadequate prior warning is yet another instance of poor planning and lack of foresight on the part of the Federal and State Governments, whose only compensation for the inconvenience caused by the move was to suggest – through the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation’s social media pages that Lagosians take ‘alternate routes’ to go about their business for the duration of the road closure. These ‘alternate routes’, however, simply redirect drivers  and  do nothing to ease the inconvenience caused by the bridge closure.

It is important to note that Lagos is a megacity, a commercial hub housing about 17 million people and with over 5 million cars and 200,000 commercial vehicles on the roads at a time. Hence, the sudden closure of a major bridge which links Lagos  Island (Ahmadu Bello Way, Adeola Odeku) to the mainland (Marina, Eko Bridge, Onikan) inevitably led to a surge in traffic and on the 2nd of April which marked the end of the two day Eid-al-Fitr public holiday, road users were greeted with a backlog of traffic stretching for miles, lasting the entire day and hitting Victoria Island and Ikoyi the hardest. 

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has since apologized for the inconvenience and offered Lagosians suggestions for getting through the next few weeks; plan ahead, try to work remotely and avoid areas affected by the traffic unless otherwise necessary. He went on to compare the restriction of movement to the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020, and asked that Lagosians act accordingly. Although the bridge has now been reopened, several road users were outraged at having to spend up to 8 hours in traffic and having to walk miles to get to their destinations.

Culture Custodian spoke to four Lagosians about their experience in April 2nd’s startling traffic jam.

Tony, Virtual Assistant

I actually entered the traffic twice, because I had to run multiple errands that day. I started my journey from Banana Island at about 12 pm and made my way to Gerrard Road. From there I walked to Lekki Ikoyi Link Bridge and saw that the cars on the road were at a complete standstill, no movement. I decided to use an Uber just to take me across the link bridge and it cost me 1,000 naira! I completed my business there and made my way back to Gerrard Road. That was when I entered the traffic for the first time.

This was around 2pm. I was going from Gerrard Road to the DHL office on Admiralty Way, and I needed to take an Uber but by this time, there had been a price surge so this trip that would usually cost between 3,000 and 4,000 naira now cost 7,000 naira! Anyway, I obliged. We started the trip, but traffic was still at a standstill and we didn’t move from that spot for almost 3 hours. It was at 4:17 pm that I got down from the Uber, paid the driver for taking me absolutely nowhere, and started trekking to Lekki/Ikoyi Link Bridge from where I took a bike and headed for the DHL office. I did not get to that office until 5 pm.

By this time, people had realised that something was amiss, and misinformation was spreading because everybody was speculating. If you’re not online, you speak to people on the street because you have no other way of knowing what is going on. Anyway, that was how I spent 3 hours going from Ikoyi to Lekki Phase 1.

When I finished at the DHL office, I had to enter the traffic for the second time to get back to Banana Island and that was when the real hell started. I had to trek because I could not go back into the traffic which was still in the same position I had met hours earlier and as I trekked, I could see other people getting out of their cars and trekking. It was so crazy. So many people were trekking. 

Itose, Business Developer  

I live in Lekki Phase 1, and I work at Victoria Island. I left my house at 8:30am, didn’t get to my office until 11am and was still one of the first few people to arrive. People were still coming in by 3:30pm. It was ridiculous. I drove myself so I didn’t have to deal with Uber cancellations, but my entire journey still took over 2 hours. Lekki-Epe Expressway was so clogged with traffic that cars couldn’t even turn around at the tollgate. There was no way to leave the road once you entered and we were basically stuck. And the thing was, at this point, people didn’t know what was causing the traffic. I left work by 5pm and by this time the traffic had built up to the point that I reached the Lekki Peninsula Gate and was in the same spot for an entire hour. Convoys were blaring sirens, people’s security men had to come down to direct traffic and I didn’t get home until 8:40 pm. I’m usually at my office physically throughout the week, but we’ve been asked to work from home for the rest of the week.

Odion, Social Media Influencer

I had already spent two hours looking for a ride before I finally got one. I was heading to Yaba from VI and left at 9 pm, but I spent 3 hours just trying to get to Ozumba Mbadiwe/Civic Centre. My rider canceled 10 minutes into the trip, but we were both stuck in the same spot for over 2 hours until 11 pm while I kept trying to find another ride. When traffic finally moved, my rider left, so I had to get down and walk to meet another driver who was waiting for me near Quilox a little after 12 am. I thought about waiting with my friend in Ikoyi until the traffic had reduced, but there was no end in sight. We tried passing through Lekki, but Admiralty was blocked. My friend had tweeted that she had been stuck there for 4 hours, so we had to take another route. At this point, I was so exhausted that I took a nap while my driver tried to link Akin Adesola. We finally got to Ikoyi at 3 am and when I woke up, someone on the road was chanting, “Go back to work! Day don break!”

I really hope employers send out work from home memos because no one can possibly be productive after sitting in traffic for so many hours. From Ikoyi, I got another ride to Yaba and finally made it home at 5:30 am. I spent over 8 hours trying to get home, but honestly, it’s not my first rodeo. My first crazy experience was spending 6 hours stuck in traffic, but that was from Jakande to Yaba. So, compared to that, this one was a whole new level of chaos.

Nkechi, HR

I live in Ajah and work in Ikoyi. I left home at 7 am and didn’t get to work until 11 am. I was amongst the last few people to get to the office. Almost everybody showed up late, and two people didn’t show up at all – they were both headed to the office, one of them turned around at Bourdillon Road while the other turned around at Admiralty Road and they both went home. They had been in the same spot for hours and it was nearly 2pm so there really wasn’t a point of continuing the journey, only to have to meet the same traffic when they closed from work. Traffic wasn’t moving, and if you saw a chance to turn around and go home, it was best to take it. I left work at 4:15pm and didn’t get home until 9:40pm. On my way home, I saw several people trekking because nobody could bear the traffic.