The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, recently stated that the ongoing construction work on the Akwanga, Jos, and Gombe segments of the Trans-Saharan Superhighway is built to withstand long periods of use before needing repairs.
Speaking during an inspection tour of the road project, Yilwatda explained that the corridor forms part of a broader infrastructure scheme stretching from Calabar through Ebonyi, Enugu, Benue, and Abuja before terminating in Jos.
How extensive is the Trans-Saharan Superhighway project? According to the APC leader, the highway will cover over 1,400 kilometres, directly linking Nigeria’s South-South, South-East, North-Central, and North-East geopolitical regions.
He characterized the undertaking as a monumental infrastructure milestone that will profoundly transform the socio-economic landscape of settlements along the transport corridor.
"Today, under the Leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we have a project with hundreds of billions of naira committed to it," Yilwatda remarked during the assessment.
Elaborating on the project scope, he noted that the Akwanga-Jos road goes beyond basic transportation mobility. It is integrated with public safety and social welfare amenities, featuring functional traffic signals, closed-circuit surveillance, police posts, and medical clinics situated at strategic intervals to boost security and healthcare delivery.
Furthermore, the APC national leader confirmed that the corridor will boast round-the-clock intelligent monitoring cameras, uninterrupted illumination, dedicated law enforcement outposts, and emergency trauma centers to safeguard commuters and deter criminal elements.
During the site briefing, the project's Equipment Coordinator and Public Relations Officer, Engr. James Baba, informed Yilwatda that heavy machinery has been fully mobilized to the Jos axis in compliance with directives issued by the Federal Ministry of Works.
Baba stated that the construction firm aims to finish at least 10 kilometres of earthwork formation prior to the Christmas holidays, with an additional 30 kilometres slated for completion in the coming year.
Providing technical updates, Baba added that preliminary test runs on the rigid pavement structure have already kicked off, with roughly 400 metres successfully executed so far.