history of the creation and development of Benue

state since 1976.The study used the historical

methodology of research which made use of essentially

primary, secondary and tertiary data to achieve its

objectives. A multidisciplinary approach was also used in

its analysis because of the complex nature of the subject

matter.

The paper reveals that the journey to the creation

of Benue state started with the creation of the Benue

province as part of the Northern region by the colonial

administration. Due to continued agitations by the

minority groups in the Northern region including the Middle Belt for a state, which would take care of their interest, the Benue-Plateau state was created. The paper

however argues that, because of the inability of the newly

created Benue-Plateau State to sufficiently address the

dichotomy between the Benue and Plateau blocs of the

State, it led to serious feud between these two, this

culminated in the agitation and consequently, the creation

of Benue State for the Benue bloc of the Benue-Plateau in

1976.

The paper among other things examines the developmental strides in the state since its creation with a

view of ascertaining its level of development. It also

examines the development potentials that the state is

endowed with including, agriculture, natural minerals,

tourism, etc, and suggested for a proper harnessing of

these potentials in the state to tackle issues of

unemployment, poor infrastructure, poverty, etc, so as to

place Benue state on the map of developed states in

Nigeria.