By The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has commenced the rehabilitation of the Numan Bridge in Adamawa State, 48 years after it was constructed.
Built in 1978 during the military administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the bridge had deteriorated over the years, posing serious risks to commuters and economic activities in the region.
The Managing Director of the NEDC, Alhaji Mohammed Alkali, disclosed this on Wednesday while touring projects to inaugurate completed ones and inspect those ongoing. He described the bridge as a “death trap” for travellers, stressing the urgent need for intervention.
“It is our responsibility to provide infrastructure that has a direct bearing on the people of the North-East and improve economic activities in the region,” Alkali said.
He explained that the Numan Bridge serves as a major link between Northern and Southern Nigeria, as well as neighbouring countries such as Cameroon, underscoring its strategic importance to national and regional trade.
Beyond the bridge project, Alkali noted that the commission is constructing model schools across the North-East to address the high number of out-of-school children resulting from the destruction caused by Boko Haram insurgency.
According to him, one fully furnished model school—complete with staff quarters and clinics—is being built in each of the three senatorial districts in the states of the region.
He commended the current administration for the timely release of funds for projects in the North-East and urged state governors to ensure proper management and maintenance of the projects for the benefit of their people.
Alkali added that since its establishment, the NEDC has played a critical role in addressing both humanitarian and infrastructural challenges in the region. He highlighted the rebuilding of schools, hospitals, bridges, and water facilities, as well as job creation initiatives for youths. The commission has also provided operational vehicles to security agencies to enhance policing efforts.
The rehabilitation of the Numan Bridge comes years after concerns were raised about the poor state of infrastructure in the North-East. In 2007, during a visit to Adamawa State, former Minister of Transportation, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, described the Yola–Gombe Road as one of the worst in the country and warned that failure to address such conditions would amount to leadership failure.
Despite earlier promises of intervention, the Numan Bridge—linking Gombe, Bauchi, Yobe, and Borno states, as well as parts of the North-West and Southern Nigeria—remained in a deplorable state for decades until the current rehabilitation efforts by the NEDC.
