President Bola Tinubu will on Tuesday flag off the reconstruction and dualisation of the 376km Lambata–Bida–Mokwa–Makera–Kontagora federal highway in Niger State, a project the Presidency says is aimed at boosting connectivity, agriculture and commerce in the North-Central region.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (North Central) Dr Abiodun Essiet, in a statement described the project as a major infrastructure initiative with the potential to improve connectivity and expand opportunities for communities along the corridor.
The ceremony, scheduled for October 13 at 12 noon, will be attended by the Minister of Works David Umahi, the Governor of Niger State Mohammed Bago and other federal and state government officials.
The upgraded road is a critical transportation route designed to ease the movement of people, farm produce and commercial freight, while improving access between rural communities, markets and industrial centers, the statement added.
Essiet said farmers and traders in Niger State, where road quality can determine whether crops reach buyers profitably, the project could reduce transport delays and lower the cost of moving goods.
The government also expects the dualised highway to improve traffic flow and road safety once completed.
She said the project forms part of President Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” infrastructure agenda, which prioritizes transport networks as a foundation for economic growth.
The highway was both a construction program and an investment in regional commerce, the statement said.
She said the federal government has approved approximately ₦1.5 trillion, value for the reconstruction and expansion of the highway which runs through one of Nigeria’s key agricultural and commercial corridors, linking Lambata, Bida, Mokwa, Makera
The statement added, however, that information has yet to detail the contractor, construction schedule, financing structure or expected completion date—details that will shape whether the project delivers its promised economic benefits.
Essiet noted that as with many large infrastructure programs, the measure of success will lie less in the groundbreaking than in delivery: durable engineering, timely completion and effective coordination between federal authorities, the Niger State government and local communities.
The corridor, a critical transportation route, when completed would strengthen connectivity across Niger State and improve links to other parts of the country, the statement said.
It added that the project would support agriculture, trade and private investment along the corridor while linking farming communities to markets and businesses to customers across the North-Central region.
