The Federal Government has revived long-abandoned road projects in the South East conceived during the colonial era, with construction now underway under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, Minister of Works Senator Dave Umahi has said.
Speaking Saturday in Ebonyi during a media tour of legacy projects, Umahi, former Ebonyi governor, singled out the *Calabar-Ebonyi-Benue Trans-Saharan Superhighway* as a strategic corridor for the South East, South and North Central. “It is a colonial-era dream long forgotten, but President Tinubu has revived it, and construction is now underway. We must thank him immensely,” Umahi said.
The minister reported that *Section One* of the highway, initially 118km, has been extended to 123.6km at a contract sum of ₦45 billion. Dualisation is ongoing and the project has reached about 28% completion in some areas, with work continuing through the rainy season using concrete road technology pioneered by Tinubu as Lagos governor.
*Section Two*, awarded at ₦668 billion to Infiouest International Limited, runs from the Aboadi border through Benue and Kogi to the Loko-Oweto Bridge in Nasarawa. It covers 123.6km and will link Ebonyi to Nasarawa, the minister said. Umahi described the highway as “not just a road, but an investment corridor” to move cassava, yams, cashews and palm oil from Cross River, Benue and Ebonyi to Cameroon and beyond.
During the tour, Umahi, Ebonyi’s acting Federal Controller of Works Engr. Maxwell Okoh, and Infiouest Project Manager Mohammed Mustafa inspected the 1.3km *Ndi-Egbe Bridge* in Afikpo LGA, which links Ugep in Cross River and is slated for completion by December 2026. The team also examined the 90-metre high *Onueke Flyover* in Ebonyi Central, a ₦35 billion project designed to decongest the highway, flanked by 2.2km of dual road.
Umahi said the concrete pavement link road between Ebonyi and Cross River, from Okposi-Ukawu in Ohaozara to Ugwulangu-Abaomege in Ugep, has been completed. “All our forefathers sought — inclusiveness — we have it now,” he said, expressing South East gratitude to the President for ending “decades of exclusion.”
Ebonyi Governor Francis Nwifuru, receiving the media delegation in Abakaliki, declared Ebonyi “the safest state in Nigeria” with no reported kidnappings since he assumed office. He thanked Tinubu for infrastructure investments including rural roads, health centres and water schemes, and said contractors are active in all LGAs.
The media tour, organised by the Hope Uzodimma-led Renewed Hope Ambassadors with the Presidential Media Team, is the group’s second regional tour after the North West. The Team is led by Bayo Onanuga and Sunday Dare, .
Other team members include Mr. Tunde Rahman, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media; Tope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity; Mr. Otega Ogra, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital and New Media; Segun Dada, Special Assistant to the President on Social Media; Linda Akhigbe and Fred Nwabufo, Senior Special Assistants to the President on Strategic Communications; Abdullahi Tanko Yakasai and Barrister Chioma Nweze, Senior Special Assistants to the President on Community Engagement; and Dare Olude, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation
The team will proceed Monday to Enugu, then Abia, Anambra and Imo. South East governors and leaders are also scheduled to converge in Abakaliki Monday for a rally to endorse Tinubu for a second term.
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