By Amos Aar
When Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, visited Benue State on June 16, 2026, the official programme was rich with ceremonies and government achievements.
She commissioned 10 roads measuring 11.5 kilometres completed by Governor Hyacinth Alia in Makurdi, inaugurated a Community ICT Centre in Ihugh, the governor’s hometown in Vandeikya Local Government Area, and presented a N100 million grant to 2,000 petty traders.
It was a visit the state government hoped would showcase its development efforts and strengthen ties with the Federal Government.
Yet, almost as soon as her helicopter lifted off, public attention shifted away from the ceremonies. Across social media, in political circles and among ordinary residents, discussions centred on the most significant event that never happened.
For many Benue people, the First Lady left the state without seeing what they had hoped she would witness firsthand-the deplorable Gboko-Ihugh federal road.
Even before her arrival, that road had become part of the conversation. Once the visit was announced, many residents wondered aloud which route the First Lady would use to reach Ihugh.
The question was not driven by curiosity alone. It showed years of frustration over a highway that has steadily deteriorated despite repeated appeals for intervention.
The reality on the ground is awesome. A journey from Gboko to Vandeikya that once lasted about three hours now stretches to four hours or even longer.
During the rainy season, travellers often prepare for an exhausting trip rather than a routine drive.
Residents say there are only two practical routes into Vandeikya from Gboko. One passes through Tyowanye, Ugbema and Ushongo, while the other runs through Lessel to Ihugh. Neither offers comfort.
Motorists describe both as painfully difficult, with deep gullies, failed sections and muddy stretches that frequently leave vehicles stranded.
In some places, the situation has become so desperate that drivers abandon the highway entirely and divert through people’s compounds to continue their journey.
Residents whose compounds now serve as unofficial alternative roads reportedly collect small payments from motorists before allowing them to pass. Heavy-duty trucks breaking down or overturning along the route have also become common sights.
Against that background, many believed the First Lady’s visit presented a rare opportunity. They hoped that if she experienced the road herself, she would better appreciate the hardship endured daily by thousands of commuters and perhaps draw President Bola Tinubu’s attention to the urgent need to reconstruct the federal highway.
That expectation, however, never materialised.
After arriving at the Makurdi Airport, the First Lady travelled into the city where she formally commissioned all 10 roads at a single location by unveiling and signing the official plaque.
She did not physically inspect the roads individually before boarding a helicopter to Ihugh.
After inaugurating the ICT Centre, she again departed by air, avoiding the difficult road that many residents had expected would become the defining experience of her visit.
To government officials, the use of air transport was simply part of the official logistics. To many ordinary people, however, it represented a missed opportunity that may not come again soon.
Pastor Asema Agiri, an indigene of Vandeikya, summed up the feelings shared by many people in the area.
“I welcome the First Lady’s visit, but I wish she had travelled through the road and appealed to her husband to do something about it because it is a federal road,” he said.
His comments echoed across communities where many believe that seeing often creates greater urgency than reading official reports.
Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who travelled from Makurdi to Ihugh to welcome the First Lady, privately expressed similar disappointment. Speaking anonymously because of party considerations, they said they had hoped she would witness the true condition of the road.
One supporter also observed that even the roads commissioned in Makurdi were officially inaugurated from one point without the First Lady driving through them.
As discussions gathered momentum, social media became the main battleground.
Among the most talked-about reactions was a Facebook post by Tivta Samuel, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He questioned the decision to locate the ICT Centre in Ihugh despite the condition of the access road.
Tivta argued that if the centre was intended to empower women across Benue, many beneficiaries would now face the challenge of travelling through one of the state’s worst roads to access it.
His comments generated stiff reactions, with supporters and critics offering different perspectives. The state government was quick to respond.
Chief Solomon Iorpev, Technical Adviser to Governor Hyacinth Alia on Media, Publicity and Strategic Communication, dismissed Tivta’s criticisms as uninformed.
He accused Tivta of making conclusions without proper investigation and defended the governor’s record on infrastructure.
According to Iorpev, the Alia administration has constructed well over 500 kilometres of roads across Benue State. He also maintained that major work, including road expansion, drainage construction and asphalt laying, had been carried out on roads criticised by the opposition.
While political arguments dominated online discussions, ordinary residents continued sharing stories of survival on the road.
One such account came from Joy M. Iorhuna, an indigene of Vandeikya, whose post quickly attracted attention. According to her, motorcycles have become the safest and fastest means of travelling between Gboko and Vandeikya.
Iorhuna narrated how she travelled from Abagu to Ihugh on a Bajaj motorcycle in the early hours of the morning and completed the journey with relative ease before returning to Gboko.
Her advice, however, exposed the gravity of the situation. She described the Ihugh-Lessel road as a death trap, warning that transporting sick people on the route in vehicles could worsen their condition.
She also advised pregnant women to avoid travelling on the road by vehicle because of its poor state. Her experience resonated with many residents who said it reflected the difficult choices they now make whenever they need to travel.
Beyond the debate over the road lies another issue that continues to generate conversation.
Since Governor Hyacinth Alia assumed office, several strategic projects have been located in Ihugh, his hometown. Ihugh is not actually the headquarters of Vandeikya local government. The headquarters of Vandeikya is also known as Vandeikya.
Apart from the newly commissioned ICT Centre, the Benue State University of Agricultural Science and Technology is also situated there, with expectations that more government projects may follow.
Critics, however, insist that accessibility should come before expansion, arguing that public institutions serve little purpose if citizens struggle to reach them. Thie disagreement is unlikely to end anytime soon.
Officially, the First Lady’s visit achieved its objectives. Roads were commissioned, traders received grants, an ICT Centre was inaugurated and government officials celebrated another successful engagement with the Presidency.
Yet, outside the official photographs and speeches, another narrative quietly emerged.
For many Benue residents, the most memorable part of the visit was not the projects that were commissioned or the grants that were distributed. It was the road that remained unseen.
In the end, the bigges
t headline was not about where the First Lady went, rather it was about where she didn’t.
