New roads and bridges are reshaping movement, agriculture in Benue, Nigeria’s food basket

Two years after the President Bola Tinubu administration scrapped the fuel subsidy regime, states began receiving larger allocations from the federal government. Benue is offering a visible answer to a question many Nigerians continue to ask: where is the money going?

Across the state, new roads, bridges and an urban underpass are emerging as officials point to infrastructure as evidence that increased revenues are being translated into development.

In Makurdi, vehicles streamed through a newly built underpass beneath what was once one of the city’s most congested intersections. About 90 kilometers away, workers assembled massive concrete beams for a bridge spanning the Katsina-Ala River. There is also the Makurdi–Renewed Hope Estate Dualisation Project, Obagaji–Okokolo–Agagbe road, Zakibiam–Beji road, Igumale–Agila, and the Ojiawaji road.

Apart from the aforementioned state funded roads, there are ongoing federal road projects such as the Wurukum Flyover / Overhead Bridge, Makurdi, Abuja–Akwanga–Lafia–Makurdi–9th Mile Road Dualisation, Lafia Bypass, and the Buruku Bridge Across the Katsina-Ala River.

Together, the projects reflect an infrastructural drive that the Benue government said would reshape movement, commerce and access to markets across Benue state.

On a recent Renewed Hope tour by the presidential media team of projects in Benue, Samuel Ode, the deputy governor, said his state allocation has “multiplied” for the benefit of the people of the state, adding the projects are also as a result of “prudent spending.”

“What you see here today is a manifestation of the prudent utilization and frugal application of the funds which are coming from the federation account, which, like you said, have increased since the government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu came into being,” he said.

“When the president was governor of Lagos State, there was no removal of fuel subsidy and he was doing wonders. And so I think it is something that is born out of his patriotism as a democrat.

“We have major rural roads which we are constructing that will enable our farmers to move food produce from the rural areas into the market.”

Raymond Zege Aondoakura, chairman of the Bukuru government area of Benue, said Buruku bridge is very important because people have consistently died owing to boat mishaps on the river.

“What this project has done to our local government, we can’t even express. We are very happy with it coming. In three years, we have lost almost 200 something persons here,” he said.

“So this bridge is a relief to not only Buruku Local Government, but to other communities from other states too that our local government has connected to.”

Also speaking on the Buruku bridge, chairman of neighboring Ukum local government area said the project would enhance commerce in the area.

“This will be the shortest road for us to connect other parts, and distribute our goods. So I believe, by the special grace of God, it’s going to help our communities, and other places like Taraba that we bother with,” he said.

Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said the projects would not only spur commerce, but shorten drive time.

“We can see where the money is going to — to develop infrastructure, to link people who have been forgotten before, to make sure that commerce flows freely,” Onanuga said.

“Farmers can get their produce straight to the market and so on. We can shorten the travel time between one community and the other, especially between the rural areas and the capital.”

For the Benue people, the projects represent more than concrete and steel. It is a promise of safer journeys, quicker access to markets and a stronger connection to the rest of Nigeria.