Umahi Wants Tinubu's Face On Niger Bridge, Let Us Reason Together

Works Minister Dave Umahi has ordered that President Bola Tinubu's pictures be pasted on the First Niger Bridge once the rehabilitation is done, and he said it while inspecting the bridge on Wednesday. The bridge links Anambra and Delta, and it was closed earlier this month after vandals removed bolts, nuts and parts of the expansion joint. Umahi also said all illegal adverts on the bridge must go, and anyone who wants to advertise should apply to the Ministry of Works.

His exact words were, "The President has worked so hard and we need to reward his hard work by decorating this bridge with his pictures." He then appealed to South-East voters ahead of 2027 not to throw away their votes, asking them to consider Tinubu's infrastructure projects in the region. I have turned this over in my mind since Thursday, and I cannot say I am comfortable. A bridge is public infrastructure. It belongs to all of us who pay tax, whether we voted for the man or not. Decorating it with one man's face turns a road into a campaign billboard, and the Ministry of Works is not the APC secretariat.

Some will say it is a small thing, that past governments did the same. That is precisely the problem. We normalise it until the next minister does worse. If the work on that bridge is good, people will remember it without any picture. Let us argue this honestly. If your own state governor ordered that his face be pasted on every federal road in your area, would you clap or would you ask who authorised it?