Benue: A fight against flood

From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi

For chairman, Igbo Traders Welfare, Wurukum Market, Makurdi, Benue State, Felix Chukwu, and his colleagues, the nightmare of flood has finally been tamed in the market and its environs. The new lease of life, they all echoed, is all credit to the new roads embarked upon by the state government.

At the market on Tuesday, September 29, 2025, after a downpour, what was typically a tragedy was simply rendered impotent. The traders were sighted going about their businesses – unlocking their stores, displaying their wares and thanking God for the rain, unlike in the past when they would have been hastily evacuating their wares or drying them due to the catastrophic consequences of the rainfall.

Speaking to Daily Sun in his shop, Chukwu remarked traders no longer incur losses as a result of flood, as the infrastructure has since addressed the challenge. He recalled their experience in years past, noting that, in those days, the traders suffered heavy and unquantifiable losses occasioned by the flood during the rainy season. He identified dealers in foodstuff, cloth sellers and other perishable items as some those who were worst hit by the seasonal flood of rains.

Chukwu lauded the construction of the drainages at Wurukum Junction, a junction situated around the market by Akpehe Road, noting that these drainages re-channelled the flood from flowing towards the market. He, however, urged the construction company handling the drainage work around the Swange Market to speed up their work to prevent any other occurrence of flood.

Besides the market and its environs, the construction project has also led to relative respite for communities around Logo I and Logo II areas. The infrastructural dividends have attracted more tenants and residents to the area, just as it has boosted property value.

Before now, business owners and tenants would hardly want to rent property in the area, despite its proximity to Makurdi town. And this was largely due to the deplorable state of the roads. The area has a swampy texture and had all along been a victim of perennial flood.

An estate agent, Damson Gabriel, told Daily Sun: “Before now, the whole area, stretching from the Market Junction down to Yina Junction is a no-go area for most people.

“As an agent, I can tell you painfully that despite the closeness of the area to the town, for many years, the bad state of the roads and flooding in the area have prevented us from making brisk business with house rentals. Residents over the years too experienced lots of hardship accessing the area.

“You couldn’t pass this area during the rainy season. This reluctance, I must tell you, affected our rents. But now, our businesses have been boosted. A lot of people ask me for houses around the area and it wasn’t like that before when clients rejected houses here, no matter how cheap they were.

“We used to have heavy flooding in all of these places but the road construction and drainages have addressed the issues. The area had actually been abandoned over the years. The new roads are solid; the drainages have reduced flooding and my business has received a boost.”

Gabriel further noted that the new roads from Victoria Aende Street have enabled landlords to rent their houses at appreciable prices while small businesses have begun to thrive better.

A former student of Benue State University (BSU), Comfort Anyi, was once a resident of Victoria Street, behind the Customary Court: “Before the construction of the road and drainages, once it rained in our absence, our rooms would be flooded and our books, mattresses and even foodstuff would be damaged.

“It was like living in a jungle. But because the area was close to the school campus, we had no option than to stay. But the new roads have opened up the place and aided easy access and traffic.”

Another resident of Idye community, Jessica Ate: “The road was very muddy and almost impassable before the construction. Right now, we are very happy because we can easily move in and out of our area and the flooding has reduced drastically. I’m sure that by the time the drainages are fully completed around here, the issue of flooding will be put to rest.”