The Diary Game [19/09/2026]:A Trip To Onitsha,The Head Bridge and an old Memory

Good evening, my wonderful Steemit family! I hope you are all doing well and having a beautiful day. It’s your girl, @Classicprincess, and today I want to share something that happened during one of my recent trips to Onitsha.

Something very important came up and I had to quickly rush to Onitsha to pick it up. You know those moments when you don't even have time to properly plan your movement because you just have to go? That was exactly how it happened with me.

When I got to the Upper Iweka area, especially around the Head Bridge, something caught my attention. There was construction and maintenance work going on around the Niger Bridge, the bridge that connects Onitsha and Asaba across the River Niger.

Immediately I saw the workers and the construction equipment, I remembered something that happened to me several years ago. In fact, I think it was about four or five years ago when I was travelling back from Lagos to the East by road.

Our vehicle got to the Head Bridge and, as we were passing through the bridge, I suddenly noticed a strange sound. I honestly don't know how to describe the sound properly, but to me at that moment, it sounded like something was sinking or moving underneath us.

My mind immediately started imagining the worst. I was thinking, “Please, what is happening? Is this bridge sinking? What if this bridge divides into two? What if our vehicle falls inside the water?”

I know it sounds funny now, but believe me, I was not laughing at that moment. I was genuinely scared! I kept wondering what would happen if something went wrong while we were right in the middle of the bridge.

Of course, we eventually crossed safely and continued our journey, but that experience stayed somewhere in my mind. Anytime I remembered it, I would think about the bridge and wonder whether everything was really okay with it.

So, fast-forward to my recent trip to Onitsha, imagine how I felt when I saw maintenance work being carried out on that same bridge. Honestly, I was happy. Like, really happy!

It was actually a different feeling seeing engineers and other workers inspecting the bridge and carrying out different activities around it. I looked at them and thought to myself, “Finally, they are working on this place.”

The first picture shows the engineers and workers on the bridge, going around and checking the different areas where work needs to be done. Seeing them there reminded me that bridges, just like other public infrastructure, need proper attention and maintenance from time to time.

Then I saw the heavy construction equipment being used for the work. There were machines moving around, bringing materials and working on the road. They were also using the equipment to level the area and prepare the section they were working on.

Honestly, seeing all these activities made me happy because this is a bridge that so many people use every single day. Vehicles travel through this route constantly, and people depend on it to move between different parts of the country.

There was also a section where the work had already progressed, and I could see the difference between the areas that had been worked on and the parts that were still being attended to.

And of course, I couldn't forget the River Niger itself. Standing around the Head Bridge and looking at the river below was another beautiful part of the experience. Sometimes, when we are always moving around and rushing to our destinations, we don't even stop to appreciate the things around us.

But this time, because the construction work had already caught my attention, I took my time to look around and appreciate the bridge and the River Niger.

I honestly don't know what prompted the maintenance work at this particular time. I even found myself wondering if it had anything to do with the upcoming election or if it was simply part of a planned maintenance project. Whatever the reason may be, I was personally happy to see the work happening.

Sometimes, we don't realise how important regular maintenance is until something makes us think about it. That old experience I had while travelling from Lagos to the East came back to my mind the moment I saw those workers on the bridge.

And this time, instead of feeling that old fear of “what if something happens?”, I actually felt a little relieved seeing people working and paying attention to the bridge.

It also made me appreciate the amount of work that goes into maintaining infrastructure that many of us use without even thinking about it. We simply enter a vehicle, cross the bridge and continue our journey, but there are people who have to inspect, repair and maintain these structures.

What started as an ordinary urgent trip to Onitsha ended up becoming a little trip down memory lane for me. I went there because I had something important to pick up, but I ended up seeing something that reminded me of an experience from years ago.

Life is funny sometimes. One moment, you are rushing somewhere because you have somewhere important to be, and the next moment, something around you makes you stop and remember an old experience.

For me, seeing the maintenance work on the Head Bridge was one of those moments. I was genuinely glad to see the bridge receiving attention, especially because of the fear I once had while crossing it years ago.

Thank you so much for reading, my beautiful Steemit family. Until my next post, stay safe, stay happy and keep being amazing! 🥰

Much love from your girl, @Classicprincess 👑❤️

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