Disaster: “Otedola Bridge Must Be Demolished and Reconstructed Immediately” — Expert
A project management expert and scholar, Dr. ‘Jubreel Odukoya, has called on the Lagos State Government to take immediate and decisive action to demolish and reconstruct the Otedola Bridge, describing it as “a structural death trap” and “a man-made disaster zone that continues to claim innocent lives.”
Odukoya, a Nigerian-born construction performance researcher trained in Malaysia condemned the government’s continued inaction over the persistent tragedies on the bridge, stressing that no amount of condolence messages can replace the need for technical and ethical intervention.
“The Otedola Bridge is badly designed and poorly constructed,” It has failed all known standards of performance, safety, and engineering ethics. The time has come for the government to stop patching and start acting. The bridge must be completely demolished and redesigned to meet global standards of road safety and structural integrity,” he advised.
Located along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway at the boundary between Lagos and Ogun States, the Otedola Bridge has gained infamy for recurring accidents, tanker explosions, and mass fatalities over the years. In June 2018, a fuel tanker explosion claimed many lives and burned over fifty vehicles. Also, in March 2024, a newlywed couple — Zenith Bank staffer, Chiedozie Okoye, and his America-based nurse wife, Joan Chidalu — died in another crash on the same spot.
Dr. Odukoya, whose doctoral research at Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Malaysia focused on the ”Effect of Project Management Factors and Ethical Practices on Building Performance in Lagos State of Nigeria”, explained that the Otedola Bridge’s recurring disasters are not coincidences but symptoms of structural negligence, flawed design geometry, and inadequate traffic engineering.
He said “The tragedies on Otedola Bridge are predictable outcomes of engineering failure. The sharp slope, poor drainage system, absence of crash barriers, and poor lane demarcation make it impossible for heavy-duty vehicles to maneuver safely. When you combine this with weak supervision, poor materials, and disregard for ethical project practices, disaster becomes inevitable.”
Citing his over 33 years of experience in project management, construction oversight, and quality control, including his tenure as Director of Projects Development at Kercon Construction Limited, Lagos, Odukoya emphasized that the government must go beyond palliative repairs and ceremonial site visits.
“In Malaysia, where I conducted my academic and field research, no bridge with such a history of repeated failure would remain open to the public. It would have been closed, reassessed, and reconstructed according to stringent design and soil stability protocols,” he noted.
The scholar, who is also a member of the Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM) and the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG), called for the urgent commissioning of a Technical Audit and Reconstruction Task Force to address Otedola Bridge and other dangerous road infrastructures across Lagos State.
“Until we subject such critical infrastructures to independent performance audits, the bloodletting will continue. Lagos cannot continue to bury citizens because of man-made negligence. The government must act. Otedola Bridge must be demolished and rebuilt now,” he warned.
Dr. Odukoya further appealed to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration to demonstrate leadership by implementing international engineering safety standards and engaging certified professionals to redesign the Otedola Bridge into a model of sustainable urban infrastructure.