Foundations of Makurdi

Although an emerging important port for British colonial trade, Makurdi became more prominent and important when it became the headquarters of the then Benue Province in 1927. #BenueTwitter #BenueArchives The rail line reached Makurdi in 1925 but it was until 1932 that the Railway Bridge was opened and Alhaji Baba Hwembe Osuman became the first man to drive a train across it. #BenueArchives

Briefs on history of Makurdi, #Benue State capital

Before 1909, the Europeans had no settlements or dwellings in Makurdi.  Makurdi was just a settlement of the tribes that constituted it living in thatched huts. It was from 1910, that surveyors from the colonial administration arrived Makurdi and began the search for a possible site for a railway terminus on the South of the River Bank. They opened telegraphic communication lines with Ibi and Lafia.