The pedestrian bridge over the popular Ikeja Along bus stop along the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway may have been constructed to ease pedestrians’ rigour of crossing the ever-busy highway, but the bridge like many others around the Lagos metropolis now seems to be solving more than the problem it was originally created to solve.
Today, the pedestrian bridge handles several voluntary and commercial activities. When New Dawn visited the facility Thursday morning, it was a beehive of activities ranging from commercial to religious activities going on simultaneously.
At the foot of the bridge were commercial busses popularly called ‘danfo’ busses scouting for passengers to various destinations while pedestrians walk briskly climbing and descending connecting their routes in various directions.
Midway on the bridge were people living with disabilities who have taken the ‘voluntary’ job of sweeping the bridge. Though while sweeping, they take ‘offerings’ from good Samaritan pedestrians who appreciate the great maintenance work being done.
On the other hand on the bridge were people distributing flyers of their various religious organisations, not necessarily preaching the gospel but inviting people to their churches.
Beggars are not also left out as a few beggars, both blind and crippled use the facility as spots for begging for alms from pedestrians some of who are generous.
Meanwhile this bridge may be generating several thousands of Naira for various categories of people who are taking advantage of the human traffic.
The relevant government agency in charge of the facility would do well to endeavor to rehabilitate beggars doing their business on this important facilities. Also, the physically challenged persons who have taken the lucrative job of sweeping the facility may also be trained and engaged on other skilled jobs that can provide a more dignified livelihood.
Meanwhile, the government agency responsible for the facility should also endeavor to clean it at least on hourly basis during the day. This would no doubt prolong the lifespan of the bridge originally designed to aid commuters cross the busy highway with ease.
