Benue plans resettlement for rural dwellers

Plans are underway by the Benue State Government to resettle the Tiv speaking rural dwellers for development purpose. Tsenongo Abancha, the special adviser on rural development and cooperatives, said so, Wednesday, in Makurdi, adding that the scattered settlement pattern of the Tiv people became a major challenge to the government. “Settlement pattern is a major […]

Plans are underway by the Benue State Government to resettle the Tiv speaking rural dwellers for development purpose.
Tsenongo Abancha, the special adviser on rural development and cooperatives, said so, Wednesday, in Makurdi, adding that the scattered settlement pattern of the Tiv people became a major challenge to the government.
“Settlement pattern is a major challenge in Tiv land. It is difficult to bring infrastructural development to them because they are not living in clusters. We are planning a resettlement pattern that will encourage the rural people to live in clusters for development purposes.”
Abancha explained that it was easier for government to provide amenities such as electricity, water and roads network in Idoma land than in the Tiv areas because the former lived in clusters.
He added that the plan to resettle the Tiv people would include using Daudu, a cluster village along Makurdi-Lafia highway, as a model to encourage the rural dwellers to stay in clusters.
“The cluster living would enable the villagers have access to more farmlands and better security network in the face of consistent threats to their lives and property during invasions,” the special adviser said.