Hundreds of travelers were stranded in Taraba State after a makeshift bridge over River Namnai collapsed on Thursday. The temporary structure, built by a private individual at the site of the defunct Namnai Bridge along the Jalingo-Wukari trunk A Federal Highway, was swept away following heavy rainfall overnight Wednesday. The original bridge had collapsed two years ago and remains unrepaired. The North East Development Commission (NEDC) awarded a reconstruction contract three months ago, with a promised completion date of December 2024, but progress has been slow.
The makeshift bridge had become a vital transit point, with the builder charging between N3,000 and N20,000 per vehicle. Daily Trust reported that hundreds of vehicles, including commercial trucks, used the route daily. After the collapse, rising water levels made crossing impossible. Motorists, including long-haul drivers, were forced to park on both banks. Passenger Musa Adamu said travelers now cross on foot and board other vehicles on the opposite side to continue their journeys.
A private citizen had to build a toll bridge because the state and federal governments failed to fix a federal highway crossing for two years. The North East Development Commission's slow pace on a project promised for completion by December 2024 exposes how little urgency is given to critical infrastructure in the region. When citizens are left to patch up public failures with makeshift solutions, breakdowns like this were inevitable. For Nigerians who rely on these routes for trade and movement, delays mean lost income and prolonged uncertainty.
