State: Benue

Benue State lies in Nigeria’s middle belt, with Makurdi as its capital. It was created in 1976 as one of seven new states carved out under military rule.

The state borders Nasarawa to the north, Taraba to the east, Kogi to the west, Enugu to the southwest, and Ebonyi and Cross River to the south, with a short international border with Cameroon.

The Tiv are the largest group in Benue, followed by the Idoma and Igede, with smaller Etulo, Hausa, Jukun, and Igbo communities scattered across the state.

Farming employs most of the workforce here, enough that Benue is often called Nigeria’s food basket. The state grows over 70 percent of the country’s soybeans, and the Zaki Biam yam market is said to be the largest market for a single farm product anywhere in Nigeria. Limestone and kaolinite mining add a smaller industrial layer.

Old trading posts from the Royal Niger Company still stand in Makurdi, alongside missionary graves from the colonial era. Further out, the Tiv people built trench fortifications in the Turan district in the 1800s to defend against slave raiders, and some of those earthworks remain visible today.

Politician J.S. Tarka, one of the most influential middle belt leaders of his generation, is buried in Gboko, and his name still carries weight in Benue politics decades after his death.