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…Onanuga insists Tinubu deserves praise for connecting Nigeria
By Romanus Ugwu
The Federal Government has fixed December 2027 as completion period for the crucial Makurdi–Otukpo–Obolo-Affor–9th Mile Enugu dual carriageway.
Federal Controller of Works, Benue– State, Mukaila Danladi, who made the disclosure, said that the 258-kilometre dual carriageway had been divided into five sections to facilitate construction.
Equally speaking about the project during the inspection of state and federal government projects by the Re,newed Hope Ambassadors and the Presidential Media Team in Benue State, Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, said that President Bola Tinubu deserves praise for expanding infrastructure across the country.
While leading the team round completed and ongoing federal and state infrastructure projects across the State, Onanuga described the expressway as a landmark project that would strengthen connectivity, boost commerce and foster national integration.
“From what we have seen so far, even though we have not completed this road, it has shortened the travel time between Makurdi and Otukpo.
“From what I gathered, the road was so bad that from Makurdi to Otukpo it used to take about three hours. But now, just about one and a half hours or so, we are in Otukpo.
“So, this is a commendable project and I think President Tinubu deserves a lot of applause for touching almost every part of Nigeria, giving them one road or bridge or one infrastructure or the other,” Onanuga said.
Speaking further, he noted: “This road is linking the North Central and the South East. If you are able to link all parts of Nigeria, it shows you that we are improving the connectivity across our states.”
“This will, no doubt, boost, not just passenger traffic, also business as people will be able to move goods across all the borders, all the state borders,” he said.
Explaining the level of work done on the project, the Controller of Works, Danladi, said that the section under inspection covers 50 kilometres on each carriageway, totalling 100 kilometres.
He noted that the construction had progressed to about 86 kilometres of binder course on both carriageways, describing the achievement as significant in spite of prevailing weather-related challenges.
Danladi attributed the slower pace of work to the rainy season, noting that some earthworks could not be undertaken under unfavourable weather conditions common during construction.
The Controller, however, said that work had not stopped, with contractors concentrating on hydraulic structures and drainage installations along the alignment pending improved weather conditions.
He reiterated Federal Government’s assurance that the project would be delivered within the 48-month contract period, with completion expected by December 2027.
Danladi recalled that; “the highway is the second phase of the Abuja-Akwanga-Nasarawa-Makurdi corridor, extending the dualisation from Makurdi through Otukpo and Obollo-Afor to Enugu.
“The project is funded through a combination of the China EXIM Bank loan and Federal Government counterpart funding, while China Harbour Engineering Company is executing the works,” he said.
