According to Umahi, the FG plans to build a 6-lane super highway connecting 5 states and the FCT. Learn about the project’s scope and expected impact.
Sen. David Umahi, Minister of Works, has revealed that the Federal Government (FG) intends to build a 477-kilometer, six-lane Super Highway that will connect the Federal Capital Territory to five states.
On Wednesday, Mr. Umahi revealed the information when opening public comment on the plan for the 101-kilometer stretch of the super highway that will run through Ebonyi.
According to him, the roadways would run from Abuja via Cross River, Ebonyi, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, and would economically revolutionize the region.
According to the minister, President Bola Tinubu’s initiative to ensure that the nation has enough food is supported by this road, which serves as an agricultural and economic corridor.
“The highway will be an economically and agriculturally viable route that will allow Ebonyi to transport farm products to other states in the nation, including as potatoes, rice, and yams.
Large amounts of this farm produce can be found along these routes, but the inadequate road system makes evacuation impossible.
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“The road was designed by the colonial masters to integrate the South East states. It is a spur of the coastal highway that runs from Lagos to Calabar,” he explained.
He urged everyone involved to help bring the initiative to fruition, pointing out that President Tinubu gave the nation’s infrastructural revolution a lot of importance.
Nigeria is today experiencing the consequences of past neglect, which influenced the president’s audacious and innovative choices.
He said that the Umuahia-Aba-Port Harcourt road, the Enugu—Abakaliki road, and the Onitsha-Owerri-Aba road are only a few of the routes in the southeast that have not been affected by the road revolution.
Mr. Umahi praised Governor Francis Nwifuru for providing compensation to those impacted by the dualization of the Enugu-Abakaliki highway, assuaging concerns about compensation for those impacted during the construction of the super highway.
“We prioritize high-quality work, which is why we dispatch all ministry directors to the field to oversee contractors,” he stated.
In his remarks, Governor Francis Nwifuru expressed his satisfaction with the project and praised Unahi for his tireless efforts to build the state’s infrastructure.
“You established an unbreakable basis for the state’s infrastructure growth, and this maintenance is consistent with our administration’s people’s charter of needs catchphrase.
He declared, “This mantra is anchored on the development of human capital and infrastructure, and since taking office, we have recorded significant strides in these areas.”
Because the project will help the people of the state both socially and economically, he pledged the backing of the state government to see it through to completion.
The project was referred to as a “dream come true” by Sen. Onyekachi Nwebonyi (APC–Ebonyi North), who stated that his constituents had been waiting years for it.
When I was a child, I used to observe my father surveying the road on the axis that connected my community to Benue with surveyors from the ministry of works in the old Anambra.
Because of this, he explained to the federal ministry of works during his brief tenure in the Senate, “that the road was of the utmost importance to my people and was opened in 1954 by the colonial masters.”
Relevant parties have productive discussions about how to achieve the super highway’s objectives.
