Trans-Sahara highway will boost security, commerce in Southeast — Umahi

By Jeff Agbodo, Abakaliki

The Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has said the ongoing construction of the Trans-Sahara Superhighway will significantly improve security, agriculture and commerce in Benue, Ebonyi and Enugu states when completed.

Umahi said the three states were important agricultural zones and that the highway would ease the movement of farm produce from rural communities to markets.

The minister stated this while inspecting the Trans-Sahara Superhighway project at the Benue-Ebonyi boundary.

He said motorists travelling at a speed of 100 kilometres per hour would be able to cover the distance in about three hours when the road was completed.

“This is a thing of joy for the people within this corridor and for the people of the South-South, South-East, North-Central and surrounding regions.

“When communities are brought closer through road construction and states become more accessible to one another, you can see the economic impact,” he said.

Umahi said some culverts along the route were being redesigned as bridges, while efforts were being made to minimise the impact of the project on properties and structures along the alignment.

He said Section One of the project, which begins in Ebonyi State and terminates at the Ebonyi-Benue boundary, covers about 123 kilometres.

According to him, the project also includes bypasses, including the 8.9-kilometre Afikpo bypass, which is being dualised.

“Section One is currently a single carriageway, but we are designing the second carriageway, which is very important in order to align the project with other legacy projects,” he said.

The minister said Section Two covers approximately 173.4 kilometres, connecting the end of Section One through Benue State, entering Enugu State before continuing towards adjoining states.

He said the combined length of Sections One and Two was almost 300 kilometres.

Umahi acknowledged the funding challenges facing some road projects across the country, but said the Federal Government would continue to execute projects based on available resources.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has taken the bull by the horns and intervened in many of these issues. There are challenges. We cannot have all the money to do all the projects at once, so we will continue to do the much we can based on our available resources,” he said.

He expressed optimism that the projects would be completed by the end of 2031, which he described as the end of President Tinubu’s second tenure if re-elected.

“I commend the President very highly. If previous presidents had intervened in this manner, perhaps we would not be in the kind of situation we are facing today,” Umahi said.

He added that the ministry had also intervened in road projects and bypasses in Ibadan, Ijebu Ode and on the Coastal Highway, among other locations.

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