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00:00:12of
00:00:17of a
00:00:18of
00:00:46Nigeria is one
00:00:47of the most prominent states in the country, the state
00:00:51deriv its name from
00:00:52of the Ogun river, powerful river that
00:00:56flows through the state and empties into the Legos Lagoon.
00:01:04sits on the banks
00:01:05of of the river, for anyone traveling from Lagos
00:01:09into Abuta, crossing the Ogun river has always been
00:01:13a necessity, abeta is
00:01:16agably one
00:01:19of of the first Nigerian cities to enjoy a direct and enduring
00:01:22relationship with the Colonial
00:01:24Administration, that
00:01:27relationship was made manifest as early as
00:01:301909 when Abelkuta was connected to Lagus
00:01:34by the
00:01:36of
00:01:38of
00:01:40of of rail. In order to achieve that, the
00:01:44very first railway bridge was constructed across the Ogun
00:01:47River to transport goods and agricultural produce
00:01:51from the arts of egbland to Lagos.
00:01:55More than
00:01:56of 100 years later, the Ogun river in Abilgoda. now
00:02:00spanned by four functional bridges, the
00:02:04old Lafenwa
00:02:05a bridge constructed and inaugurated in 1959
00:02:09and the concrete bridge recently erected by it
00:02:12of side to reduce load and to make it
00:02:15a dual carriage way. other bridges are
00:02:18the akiri bridge that also links lafen
00:02:22wa from the right side
00:02:23of the briri junction and
00:02:26of olomori on the left side and the okwako adigwe bridge. which
00:02:30links the
00:02:31in obadaoko of area of apeokuta, while the lafewa
00:02:35bridge and the orders built after it remain in active
00:02:38use, seven thousands of vehicles daily, the first
00:02:42bridge that started the journey now stands in a state of
00:02:45abandonment.
00:02:50this century old historic bridge was constructed for both railway
00:02:54and pedestrian yuls. it is located in the
00:02:58of ararom
00:02:58of area of. and it connects aro itaoshin to
00:03:02oriyanin agbeloba, the old Post Office at
00:03:06Manseke, and Into Okeiwo, which is the commercial
00:03:10of district
00:03:10of the town. During my visit to Araaro
00:03:13Muriyon, I set out to catch a glimpse
00:03:16of the historic bridge that once served as the
00:03:19a major link between the colonial authorities and the people of Arbe
00:03:23Okuta and the rest
00:03:25of the country. What I found was an engineering
00:03:29masterpiece. a structure built with quality
00:03:33steel and anchored by solid
00:03:35of concrete pillars that form its foundation across the
00:03:38river. the bridge was also designed with
00:03:42pedestrian walkways on both sides allowing
00:03:46people to move freely even as trains passed.
00:03:49now the
00:03:51of story of has changed: years of abandonment and
00:03:54vandalization have taken their toe. most
00:03:59of of the railings have been removed. and the wooden deckins on the pedestrian sections
00:04:02as decayed, yet
00:04:06a people still use the bridge daily to connect to the toushin and
00:04:10aro axis
00:04:11of the town. undeter by the risk,
00:04:14both young and old continue to cross.
00:04:18to them, this is not just a bridge, it is a
00:04:22historic monument that must not be allowed to rot
00:04:25away. they also say it makes economic sense
00:04:29because in the bridge cost nothing, but if they are forced
00:04:33to go around and use the bridge at burry, transport fair
00:04:36ranges between 600 and 800 nira depending on
00:04:40negotiation, for a student making the trip
00:04:44twice daily over
00:04:45a distance of less than 700 meters, the cost
00:04:49becomes heavy burden, it's very closer to
00:04:53of retoshing uh from this uh to
00:04:57touching and very closer, you can check it from toshion
00:05:01and cost the bridge, across this place without any money be
00:05:05sincere without it lot of people will have, i don't
00:05:08want to say it really, because lot of people going
00:05:10of to
00:05:11of school down from ' italshi so
00:05:14all schools around here, agnican uh
00:05:17afro gateway, they do take
00:05:21this on finish um this thing, though it was good and fine
00:05:25before, but later on it went off like this, based on
00:05:29the fact that parts the bridge have been vandalized by those who cut
00:05:32away metal, i was afraid to cross, didn't want
00:05:36to mistap and the height was downting, i spoke
00:05:40with pedestrians especially the way who use it daily, but
00:05:44they were indifferent, to them, it was a way of
00:05:48life, no, except if they maybe they
00:05:52have removed some uh, some
00:05:55plank, so as everything is straight, it will be faster
00:05:58than
00:06:00what i think, trains used to pass here
00:06:03before, but not again as it is now, we cross
00:06:07the bridge anyt, even at night we pass through the
00:06:11bridge because It's faster to Italy, both young
00:06:15and old including students make use the
00:06:18bridge. I later moved into the host community to speak with
00:06:22residents about the historic bridge which they call bridge
00:06:25arrow. An 85 year old indigen of
00:06:29Araromir told me he grew up knowing the
00:06:32bridge. He said his parents informed him that it was
00:06:35constructed by the British. He said the bridge has
00:06:39served the people of egweland and beyond for more.
00:06:51I grew up knowing this bridge it's very useful for all of
00:06:55us here because it's faster to get touch
00:06:58in aro area we passed through it to go and sell our
00:07:02goods I also passed through it when I was going to school
00:07:06at it but since strings are no longer passing
00:07:10through it that
00:07:11was when the problem.
00:07:12started
00:07:16his younger brother shared similar experience recalling how
00:07:20the bridge shipped their trade and movement in their younger
00:07:23years that it is
00:07:25two uh places one here
00:07:29one here but now we have only one we have now
00:07:32is sp and that b now useful for
00:07:35everybody because when i was when i was young going to
00:07:39school any time we are selling uh sugar
00:07:42cane at railway station, it's a
00:07:45big somewhere now so any time 1 o'clock
00:07:49in the night in the
00:07:50midnight come
00:07:54has come have to run that bridge you go there
00:07:57to sell and
00:08:00this and come back together very
00:08:04nice because community was here
00:08:08atted only one school e
00:08:19we enjoy the
00:08:21so weself bridge, we enjoy the bridge, but now
00:08:25personally i can never
00:08:28uh a professor who is resident
00:08:32offer a deeper insight into the history behind the bridge and why
00:08:36government must not abandoned it and the
00:08:40bridge? that
00:08:43was a real line
00:08:45bridge, became
00:08:49dysfunctional,
00:08:53which informs the granite
00:08:56connecting centers
00:09:00around, around
00:09:02ibara became
00:09:05disuse, so that trail line
00:09:08after a long abandon.
00:09:15was converted into
00:09:19residential lens by those who encouraged on
00:09:23it, but one glading
00:09:26thing is that road was
00:09:28constructed parallel to the
00:09:32rail line to the granite collection center
00:09:36and today
00:09:37is major road called kari road, for the
00:09:40alakuso, the head of community, his appeal is
00:09:44clear, government should consider the historic, economic
00:09:48and developmental values attached to the bridge and come to their
00:09:51rescue in the community. the bridge is now
00:09:55useful for the uh somebody using
00:09:59legs to cross, so if it can be developed
00:10:02in the sense that the vehicle can be passing through, so
00:10:06definitely is to reduce the cost, the
00:10:10the the the hold of traffic. jam
00:10:13in the what they call the place
00:10:17and burry
00:10:19and
00:10:23that. very close to the very there, so definitely
00:10:27anybody going
00:10:28to, this
00:10:32will be easier
00:10:34ass road for them. recently, the state house of assembly
00:10:38has passed resolution to h the state government to consider
00:10:42reconstruction the bridge in order to enhance public
00:10:45safety, his traffic congestion and to stimulate the local
00:10:49economy in the state. the resolution, which
00:10:53was sponsored by the law Maker representing Abiuguda
00:10:57north state constituency by Batude Taylor was passed by
00:11:01the assembly but yet to manifest physical development in the
00:11:05area. By reconstructing the
00:11:08bridge, we will be writing our names in gold
00:11:12just as our forfathers who first built it over
00:11:16a century ago. I
00:11:20therefore passionately all this honorable house to
00:11:23support this motion. and call on the state government through the
00:11:27ministry of works and infrastructure to take immediate steps
00:11:31towards the reconstruction of this all important bridge for the
00:11:34safety, convenience and prosperity of our
00:11:38people bridge reconstructed
00:11:42and modernized for the use
00:11:44the people
00:11:47of
00:11:48state.
00:11:52despite my fears, my desire to walk on the historic
00:11:56bridge prompted me to give it another
00:11:58trial. this time the chairman the community development
00:12:02association the area was my guide. he showed me
00:12:06how to navigate the bridge without fear. then i
00:12:10decided to give it a try on my own. after watching
00:12:13people trying to move on this uh bridge, i also want to
00:12:17attempt crossing these bridge, although it's a bit scary
00:12:21uh when you look into the water and of course you are on this uh
00:12:25ancient bridge, but I'm going to uh cross it uh
00:12:29with determination, so take a
00:12:31look.
00:13:18and finally I'm here, I've conquered the
00:13:22fear, uh, looking at this place. is
00:13:25just uh less than
00:13:29um 500 meters uh, but the
00:13:33danger attached to this place currently is what people are
00:13:36actually calling government attention to, they want the government to
00:13:40actually replaced this bridge by constructing the
00:13:44concrete one and remove this century hood uh
00:13:47railway bridge which has been abandoned here, however
00:13:51people still plied it every day.
00:13:58From my experience during the trip, I see the
00:14:01117-year-old bridge, standing as a symbol of
00:14:05engineering foresight and the foundation of modern
00:14:08transportation in Nigeria. Restoring it will
00:14:12honor the vision the past leaders and strengthen the courage
00:14:16the future generations to dream big about their
00:14:19country with commitment to make an indeilable
00:14:23impact the spire. The current major road construction
00:14:26ongoing across the state, abandoning this heritage to rot a
00:14:30waste like to lose critical part of Nigeria's colonial and
00:14:34pre-independence history, her history ed into the
00:14:38land of state
00:14:40capital. TBC News
00:14:43abulkata.
00:14:56Brought to you by Remed Lee. Send money home,
00:15:00safely with
00:15:01Remedly.
00:15:13Bayalsa has long been one of Nigeria's major
00:15:16producers of natural gas.
00:15:19Ironically, millions of cubic feet of gas
00:15:23left the state every day. while many homes remained
00:15:27in darkness. For
00:15:30decades, residents questioned why a states
00:15:34blessed with enormous gas resources could... not generate
00:15:38enough electricity for its own people, the
00:15:41answer is now taking
00:15:44shape. they have
00:15:48done enough for us because the light, now as you can see we are
00:15:51working, it's with the light that are using, for the past
00:15:55two weeks now there is light, constant light, like for the for my
00:15:59experience to the one of experience constant light, no taking, are
00:16:03using it now for our business, at least some of our generator
00:16:06beast. and the others have stuff now, we used to spend
00:16:10about 15, sometimes 2000 depend on how the work
00:16:14is, so but now we can save that money and use it for other
00:16:17things.
00:16:25the turning point came with the Bayalsa independent power
00:16:29project, an ambitious plan designed to
00:16:33generate 60 megaws of electricity using
00:16:36natural gas. sourced within the state.
00:16:40the project involves the installation of eight gas
00:16:44turbines at elebele in ogbia local government
00:16:47area. each turbine represents major
00:16:51investment aimed at delivering reliable power supply
00:16:55to homes, businesses and industries. for the
00:16:58past let's say one month there has been a
00:17:02steady power supply and i believe is
00:17:06turbine,
00:17:06i don't think. back and give us such light. getting
00:17:10the turbines into by elsa was no easy
00:17:13task. transporting equipment weighying
00:17:17several tons across rivers and difficult to rain
00:17:21requires amounts of planning and engineering
00:17:24expertise. every component had to arrive
00:17:27safely before installation could begin.
00:17:31after months of installation and testing, the project reached
00:17:34a defining moment. on this day. April
00:17:3810, 2026,
00:17:42to God be the
00:17:44glory.
00:17:48President Bola Akmed Tinibu officially commissioned the power
00:17:52project. The event marked a significant milestone
00:17:56in Bayelsa's journey towards energy
00:17:59independence, yet generating electricity
00:18:02was only one part the solution. Delivering that power
00:18:06supply into. Holmes presented another challenge
00:18:09entirely, this is too much, nowadays the rain
00:18:13is too much and every other thing is too much, so
00:18:17we are we appeal to the government to know how to sustain this nepa of a
00:18:21thing, if you can hold that nep then is okay, if the turb can be
00:18:25okay, i think the masses will be okay, the light
00:18:29situation, the power situation has even reduced, it's even getting
00:18:32worse, we used to be one the best when
00:18:36it comes to... supply, but for now I want to say that the
00:18:40situation has even deteriorated the trindling, I've invested
00:18:45a power, the solar energy, so I use
00:18:48that, then over sometimes we
00:18:51get
00:18:53uh fuel to use, so it's a tol, it takes a
00:18:56told in our family budget,
00:19:00so but I want to believe that there will be an
00:19:03improvement, the way others are enjoying the gas turbine, they...
00:19:07improvement in power supply, i want to honestly believe that it will
00:19:11extend to br street, at the end the day it will be better of and
00:19:15win for all of us, so let's be
00:19:18patient and we are sure that we will all be happy,
00:19:22and are those who have seen the light and are very happy
00:19:26and i've received a lot of
00:19:30forarded messages to me
00:19:33about when there is light and how they enjoy the light.
00:19:37and when that happens, those who don't have will ask, are we not part of b
00:19:41elsa? we are all part of b elsa, nobody will be
00:19:45left out, as you do this our road, let him see appear and
00:19:49do our light, there is no transformer, the transformer that is here is
00:19:53not even good, so let him help us and come and do the light, we are
00:19:56hungry, since over years i have not been doing anything in this
00:20:00community, so many people are parking out, so we are in darkness all
00:20:04throughout the years, many community. has lacked
00:20:08functional distribution infrastructure, old
00:20:11transformers have broken down, some electrical
00:20:15lions were too weak to carry additional
00:20:18power, in several locations, years of
00:20:22neglect meant, damaged poles and worn out cables
00:20:26had to be replaced, another major obstacle,
00:20:29vandalism, transformers, power cables,
00:20:33electrical installations, some newly installed facility,
00:20:37became targets for thieves, officials say every
00:20:41act of vandalism delays electricity to
00:20:45thousands of households, because the love the pool of
00:20:49b the governor generously
00:20:52provided financial and technical support to ensure that those
00:20:5614 towers i 19 towers were
00:20:59rehabilitated then within the uh
00:21:02distribution network you may be aware
00:21:06that we lost over 114
00:21:10transformers during the blackout and that
00:21:13immediately prompted the may so rest in peace the
00:21:17late deputy governor senator.
00:21:21to set up a an
00:21:24anti-Vandalization committee
00:21:28which was which is currently part of our electricity
00:21:31act itself, it has been domesticated within the
00:21:35electricity act and we were able
00:21:39to cup the further vandalization the distribution
00:21:43network, otherwise if we had not done
00:21:47that as a proactive measure by
00:21:49the time the transmission uh network
00:21:53was completely rehabilitated, we would have
00:21:57faced a huge challenge in ensuring that the
00:22:00distribution network is also rehabilitated.
00:22:04poor internal wearing has also emerged as another
00:22:08challenge: many homes cannot immediately
00:22:11receive power supply because their electrical
00:22:15installations no longer meet safety standards.
00:22:19some res lents are now upgrading their wiring before being
00:22:23connected. today the transformation has
00:22:26begun. one community after another,
00:22:30more customers are gradually being connected to the state
00:22:34power network. some businesses are beginning to feel their
00:22:38impact: hair saloons, cold rooms,
00:22:42welders, bakeries, cyber cafes. the
00:22:46reduction in fuel costs is gradually translated.
00:22:50into improved productivity, hospitals expect more
00:22:54reliable health care delivery, students can study at
00:22:58night. entrepreneurs can expand their
00:23:01businesses. investors now see electricity as
00:23:05critical factor in choosing where to establish
00:23:08industries. government officials say more
00:23:12communities will continue to be connected in
00:23:15phases as distribution infrastructure
00:23:18expands. we heard about challenges in
00:23:22terms of delay here and there,
00:23:26because it is not like the analog
00:23:29turbine, this is electronics
00:23:33turbine, e-turbine that is so sensitive,
00:23:36now we are connecting from community to
00:23:39community, but if there is any falt, because
00:23:43the the electrification we've had that has been
00:23:46done before, and uh, is
00:23:50any fault in connection, any
00:23:52falt with the transformer
00:23:56will have delays, because we need to fix
00:23:59that before they can have
00:24:02supply, so that has been
00:24:06challenging, if not will have said will have covered
00:24:09more than more communities
00:24:12that than what we have covered today, but it's still working
00:24:15progress, i believe that most
00:24:18communities among this yanagua
00:24:21axis already connected and
00:24:25more are to be connected. residents are
00:24:29also being encouraged to protect transformers and
00:24:32report acts of vandalism because every damage
00:24:36transformer means more communities remain in
00:24:40darkness, from darkness to dependable
00:24:43electricity from generators to gas powered
00:24:47energy for the residents of Bayalsa, "the
00:24:50journey is far from over, but perhaps for
00:24:54the first time in many years, the future looks
00:24:57brighter. for decades, by elsa watch its natural
00:25:01gas, power industries beyond its
00:25:04bters, living communities with unstable power
00:25:07supply, but today the state is changing the
00:25:11narrative, although challenges still persist from
00:25:15aging infrastructure, poor internal wiring as well as
00:25:18vandalism. but the residents say hope is on the
00:25:22horizon joseph kunde tvc
00:25:26news yanagua
00:25:27brought
00:25:36to you by remedly
00:25:38send money home safely with
00:25:40remedly.
00:30:18At TVs and wherever the big news stories
00:30:21happening, we're get up to break it.
00:30:25TVs
00:30:25and
00:30:52An efficient and vibrant agriculture sector remains a major
00:30:55pivot the tinib economy, hence the deployment of
00:30:59interventions.