“Holy Ghost Will Kpai You There” — Odumeje Warns Against Celebrating Onitsha Bridge

 

Image: IG 

Pastor Chukwuemeka Ohanaemere, better known as Odumeje, has taken a strong position against the way the Federal Government has presented the maintenance of the Onitsha Head Bridge.

For Odumeje, there is a big difference between maintaining an old piece of infrastructure and putting up a completely new project. He questioned the excitement surrounding the bridge, pointing out that the structure has been around for decades and should not be presented as though it was recently built.

The cleric was particularly critical of the public celebration surrounding the work done on the bridge. He argued that carrying out repairs or repainting an old structure does not suddenly make it a new construction.

Speaking in his characteristically direct manner, Odumeje said:

"If I see any of you at Onitsha Head Bridge celebrating that you maintained a 1950s bridge for the South-East, Holy Ghost will kpai you there. This country has no conscience.

If you see the way the government is showing this bridge everywhere on the internet, you will think it is a newly constructed bridge, without knowing that it is a bridge built years ago. Imagine someone celebrating his car that he parked for over 50 years after repainting it."

His comparison with an old car was used to drive home his point. According to him, giving an ageing structure a fresh appearance should not be confused with replacing it or building a new one.

The Onitsha Head Bridge has long been an important part of transportation in the South-East, connecting communities and serving as a major route for people and goods moving across the Niger. That history is at the centre of Odumeje's argument.

Rather than focusing only on the renewed appearance of the bridge, he wants attention placed on the fact that the structure itself dates back many decades. His complaint is essentially about how infrastructure projects are presented to the public and what people are led to believe about them.

Odumeje's remarks also draw attention to a familiar issue in discussions about public infrastructure: the difference between maintenance, rehabilitation and fresh construction. While maintaining an existing bridge can be necessary and important, he argues that such work should be described accurately rather than presented in a way that suggests an entirely new structure has been delivered.

His words were blunt, especially his warning about anyone going to the bridge to celebrate the maintenance work:

"If I see any of you at Onitsha Head Bridge celebrating that you maintained a 1950s bridge for the South-East, Holy Ghost will kpai you there."

He also returned to the same point with his car analogy, asking people to imagine someone taking pride in a vehicle that had been parked for more than five decades simply because it had been repainted.

For Odumeje, the issue goes beyond the fresh look of the bridge. His criticism is about recognising the age of the infrastructure and being clear about what has actually been done to it.

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