As the 2025 rainy season continues to batter parts of Nigeria, residents of Gassol Local Government Area in Taraba State are raising fresh alarms over the lingering collapse of the Namnai Bridge — a critical infrastructure that once connected Taraba to Benue State and served as a vital economic lifeline for thousands.
Nearly one year after it was washed away by severe flooding in 2024, the bridge remains unrepaired, plunging the region into deepening hardship and isolation.
The Namnai Bridge, before its collapse, was a key transit corridor linking farmers, traders, commercial drivers, and travelers from Taraba to the southern regions of the country. Its absence has left behind a trail of economic stagnation, rising unemployment, and logistical nightmares.
“Life has become unbearable,” said Musa Ibrahim, a commercial driver who plies the Jalingo–Makurdi route. “We now spend entire days navigating through dangerous bush paths just to move goods and passengers. Our vehicles are breaking down regularly, and the cost of fuel is eating deep into our pockets.”
He said many of his colleagues have now abandoned the route altogether due to its dangers and diminishing profitability.
The situation is just as dire for local farmers in Namnai and surrounding villages. With no viable route to transport their produce to major markets in Wukari and Makurdi, crops are rotting in the fields. Exploitative middlemen now offer farmers meager sums, while food availability in local markets declines.
“We are watching our farm produce go to waste,” lamented a local farmer, Bitrus Aondo. “No one wants to buy them at fair prices, and we have no way to get them to better markets. How do we survive like this?”
Traders, too, are feeling the squeeze. Aisha Saleh, a market woman in Namnai, described the collapse of the bridge as an economic death sentence for small business owners in the area.
“Many of us have shut down. There are no customers, no goods, and no roads. Are we not part of Taraba State?” she asked in frustration.
Local youths have been particularly hard hit. With farming and trade activities crippled, many are left idle, fueling concerns about rising social unrest and migration from the area.
Despite repeated appeals from traditional rulers, civil society organizations, and community stakeholders, residents say the Taraba State Government has not shown any meaningful commitment to fixing the bridge.
“What more do we need to do before the government listens?” asked Malam Suleiman Danjuma, a community elder. “We have written letters, protested, and begged. The rainy season is here again, and the suffering is getting worse.”
The alternative routes now in use are barely motorable — riddled with potholes, vulnerable to flash floods, and often leaving travelers stranded for hours or even days. The absence of reliable infrastructure has become not only an economic issue but a public safety concern.
For the people of Namnai and its environs, rebuilding the bridge represents more than a mere construction project — it symbolizes hope, inclusion, and a return to normal life.
“We are not asking for too much,” Saleh added. “We are asking to be able to go to market, take our children to school, and drive on safe roads. Is that too much?”
As the rains intensify and conditions deteriorate, pressure is mounting on the Taraba State Government to act decisively. Until then, the people of Gassol continue to cry out — not just for a bridge, but for visibility, dignity, and the right to be part of the nation’s progress.