Francis Nwaze
Nigeria is watching another major infrastructure chapter unfold as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu pushes forward with one of the boldest road projects of his administration.
A few months ago in Afikpo, Ebonyi State, the President approved and officially flagged off the construction of a super highway designed to link the southern tip of the country to the nation’s capital in a single, uninterrupted corridor.
The road starts in Cross River, cuts through Ebonyi, moves into Benue and Kogi, passes through Nasarawa and finally ends in Apo, Abuja. It is one of the rare projects that genuinely ties South South to South East and then to North Central in a straight, purposeful line. For many communities on this stretch, this is the first time a federal road of this scale is arriving at their doorstep.
The project is being delivered through the Federal Ministry of Works under the supervision of the Minister, HE Senator Enge. David Umahi, CON. He has repeatedly described the highway as part of the larger road infrastructure master plan of the Renewed Hope administration, an agenda that aims to close long-standing connectivity gaps and open up new economic routes across the country.
Construction is being handled by Infiouest International Limited.
Work has not only started but is moving at a pace that commuters along the Afikpo–Abakaliki axis have found impressive. The precision of the earthworks, drainage channels and pavement structure gives the sense of a road built for durability.
One of the most striking elements on the corridor is the new bridge rising at Ndibe Beach. This structure will link Afikpo directly to Cross River and is already at an advanced stage. When complete, the journey between both states, once long and broken by bad river crossings, will feel more like a short inter-local government trip within the same state.
For residents and businesses along the route, this single link is expected to change travel patterns, market access and cross-border trade in a very practical way.
Another major outcome of the project is the impact it will have on travel time. When the highway is fully completed, the trip from the South East to Abuja which is currently a long stretch that can take up to ten hours will drop to roughly four hours.
Beyond its physical scale, the super highway carries wider national significance. It supports President Tinubu’s effort to stimulate economic activity through strategic infrastructure. It promises quicker access to markets, smoother movement of goods and easier travel for millions of people across several regions. For the communities it passes through, it brings the promise of new investment, new jobs and a stronger link to the national grid of commerce.
At full completion, this road will stand as one of the defining projects of the Renewed Hope era, a long, clean line of asphalt stitching together regions that once felt distant from one another.
