By Joy Odor Reportcircle News
In a region where gunfire once drowned out the grind of construction equipment, the Federal Government says it is pressing ahead with one of the most strategic road projects in Nigeria’s troubled North-East, despite insecurity, material shortages and rising costs.
On the dusty stretch of the Maiduguri–Monguno Road in Borno State, engineers, contractors and government officials stood their ground this week, insisting that insurgency would not halt infrastructure renewal on a corridor long battered by conflict.
Leading the charge is the Federal Ministry of Works, which has reaffirmed its commitment to completing the rehabilitation of Section I of the Maiduguri–Monguno Road, a 105.6-kilometre artery first awarded in 2018 to QUMECS (Nigeria) Limited at a contract sum of ₦21.73 billion.
Today, that figure has climbed to ₦28.37 billion following a technical review and scope adjustment to strengthen the pavement structure.
The revised design now incorporates a flexible pavement system with asphaltic concrete shoulders, a departure from surface dressing aimed at enhancing durability and protecting the carriageway from rapid deterioration.
Speaking during the nationwide media tour of projects in the North-East Zone, the Federal Controller of Works in Borno State, Engr. Salihu Adamu, did not mince words about the obstacles.
“The biggest challenge faced by the contractor is insecurity,” Adamu said at the project site in Maiduguri.
“There are pockets of attacks on the highways, and this has forced them to take longer and safer routes to source construction materials.”
Those routes are not short detours. Base and sub-base laterite are being hauled from Ngamdu, near the Yobe State border, roughly 150 kilometres away.
Stone aggregates are transported from Shira town in Bauchi State, about 450 kilometres from the site, due to security restrictions and a ban on blasting rocks within Borno.
Borno remains under emergency conditions, with security concerns dictating logistics and timelines.
Yet, amid the tension, progress is visible.
Phase I of the project spans 30 kilometres.
So far, approximately 5.8 kilometres have been completed up to binder course level.
About 8 kilometres of stone base have been laid, while clearance works have extended beyond 15 kilometres.
Asphaltic concrete shoulder construction is ongoing in line with the Ministry’s updated pavement protection policy.
The Project Manager for QUMECS, Engr. Bukar Kadai, confirmed that the company is fully mobilised, operating two active teams simultaneously, one handling shoulder construction and the other executing stone base operations.
“As soon as bitumen arrives on site, asphalt laying will commence,” Kadai assured.
The symbolism is powerful: heavy-duty trucks rolling across a corridor once deserted for fear of ambush.
Professional observers have endorsed the quality of the work.
Chairman of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Maiduguri Branch, Engr. Mohammed Shettima, expressed satisfaction during inspection, noting that the rehabilitation would significantly ease transportation difficulties for residents and road users across the corridor.
For many in Borno, roads are more than infrastructure, they are lifelines linking farms, markets and communities fractured by years of insurgency.
In a related development, the Limited Rehabilitation of Kaga–Gubio Road, Sections I and II, outside Benisheik Town, has been completed and formally inaugurated.
The Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Borno State Council, Abdulkarim Haruna, performed the inauguration on behalf of the Honourable Minister of Works, Engr. David Nweze Umahi, CON, FNSE, FNATE.
Haruna described the road as a strategic route for economic empowerment and social inclusion.
“Roads are a means of empowering the people,” he declared. “This road connecting to Benisheik, which serves as a gateway to Maiduguri and Yobe State, is a very positive development.”
He urged the media to continue sensitising Nigerians about ongoing infrastructure reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
Engr. Salihu Adamu further described the Kaga–Gubio Road as a critical intervention facilitating the movement of agricultural produce into Maiduguri and other parts of the North-East, strengthening commercial activities along the corridor.
According to him, the rehabilitation forms part of broader emergency and special works programmes designed to safeguard infrastructure, improve mobility and stabilise economies in conflict-affected areas.
For the Federal Ministry of Works, the Maiduguri–Monguno project represents more than asphalt and aggregate.
It is a test of federal resolve in a state that has endured more than a decade of violence.
Moving stone 450 kilometres under armed escort is not routine engineering. It is nation-building under fire.
And in Borno, where mobility once meant vulnerability, the sound of construction may now signal something else cautious recovery.
As the bitumen trucks roll in and binder layers harden under the sun, the message from Abuja is clear: insecurity will not dictate the pace of national development.
Not this time.
