The richest Local Government in Benue State
Do you want to know the richest local government in Benue state? If yes then you are in the right place, continue reading!
We are going to bring to you the list of the top 5 richest local governments in Benue state. But before we do that, let us first of all talk about some common things you need to know about the state.
A Short Story About Benue State
Benue state, which is located in the North-central region of Nigeria was created in 1976 along with six other states in the country.
This state, also called The Food Basket Of The Nation consists of 23 located governments including Makurdi, the state capital.
Without a doubt, agriculture is the mainstay of the Benue state economy, engaging over 85% of the population in the state.
It is the largest yam-producing state in the country recording an average sale of 4.5 million yams yearly, making Nigeria by far the world’s largest producer of yams with 18.3 million tonnes from 1.5 million hectares, accounting for over 70–76 percent of the world’s production.
Other agricultural products in Benue state are groundnut, cassava, sweet potatoes, mango, oranges, rice, beans, maize, tomatoes, soybeans, sorghum, millet, sesame, cocoyam, etc.
Apart from agriculture, Benue state is blessed with abundant mineral resources, some are commercially exploited while some are deposited. These include Limestone (located at Tse Kucha, near Gboko local government), and Kaolinite (in Otukpo local government). Other mineral resources yet to be exploited are Gypsum, Baryte, Feldspar, Wolframite, Gemstone, Mineral salts, etc.
Talking about ethnic groups in Benue state, the predominant are Tiv, Idoma, and Igede, others are Etulo, Abakpa, Jukun, and Igbo, among others.
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The richest Local Government in Benue State
Having known the short story about Benue state, it’s a good time to discuss the richest local governments in the state.
What is a local government?
A local government is the lowest tier of public administration within a particular sovereign state. It’s a form of government whose remit covers an area less than that of the national land and, in some cases, less than that of a state.
As I previously stated, there are 23 local governments in Benue state, these include Kwande, Konshisha, Ado, Agatu, Katsina-Ala, Gboko, Makurdi, Otukpo, Vandeikya, Buruku, Ushongo, etc.
Which among do you think are the richest?
Before you decide, I may like you to know that there are many parameters to consider in other to ascertain the credible result of the richest local governments.
As we all know, the State and local government generates revenues from three primary sources, this includes:
- Income
- Property taxes &
- Sales
However, property taxes are the largest source of revenue for local governments.
Local government also generate revenue from other sources like licenses and permits, Special levies, Grants from the federal and state government in Nigeria, Statutory allocation, Share from Value Added Tax (VAT), Court fines, etc.
In this post we consider all the parameters in other to bring to you an accurate list of the richest local government in Benue state.
Having known this, let us dive into the topic of discussion!
Top 5 Richest Local Governments In Benue State (Latest Updates)
Listed below are the top 5 richest local governments in Benue state:
1. Makurdi Local Government
Makurdi, which is the capital of Benue state is the richest local government on our list with a population of about 438,000 residents.
This local government was established in 1927 and was made the capital of Benue state in 1976. It is located on the south bank of the Benue River.
This city is home to Joseph Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University (JOSTUM); formerly the University of Agriculture Makurdi, Benue State University Makurdi (BSU), Akawe Torkula Polytechnic Makurdi (ATP), and Nigeria Army School Of Military Engineering Makurdi.
There are also a lot of government and private, secondary, and primary schools in Makurdi. Some of them include Mount Saint Gabriel Secondary School, Vaatia College, Government Secondary school, North Bank, Special Science Senior Secondary School, Government College, Tilley Gyado College, North Bank, Vertex Academy, etc.
There are many private and government companies in Makurdi including transportation, banks, Hotels, Fuel Stations, Restaurants, and many other sectors.
Some of the the companies are:
- Benue Brewery LTD
- Benue Investment & Property Co. LTD
- Bic Securities LTD
- Oracle Business Limited
- Benue links
- Pleasure Travels
- Benue Hotel
- Okiki Hotel
- Diplomat Travels & Tourism Agency
- Dozzy Oil & Gas LTD, etc.
There are also a lot of well-functional markets in Makurdi. This includes:
- Wurukum Market
- High-Level Market
- Wadata Market
- North Bank Market
- Modern Market, etc.
2. Gboko Local Government
Gboko is second on the list of the top 5 richest local governments in Benue state.
This LGA was established on the 11th of May, 1970. It’s one of the busiest towns in Benue State housing about 500,000 people.
It is also the residence of the supreme traditional ruler / King / Monarch of the Tiv people, Tor Tiv, also known as Begha U Tiv (Lion of Tiv People).
Gboko is one of the best places for commercial activities in Benue state. And just like Makurdi, there are a lot of businesses running in Gboko town.
The local government shares borders with Tarka, Ushongo, Buruku, Gwer, and Konshisha Local governments.
Without a doubt, Gboko Local government is very rich in mineral deposits of limestones, barite, granite, and alluvia clay.
Aside from mineral resources, agriculture is another heavy source of income for the Gboko Local Government. Some of the crops cultivated at the LGA are rice, yam, maize, cassava, etc.
There are many tertial institutions (both government and private) in Gboko local government, this includes Fidei Polytechnic, Gboko Polytechnic, Akperan Orshi Polytechnic, NKST College of Health Technology Mkar, Gboko, and the University of Mkar.
The place also houses a lot of companies including the popular Dangote Cement.
3. Ukum local government
Yes, Ukum Local Government can not be left out of the top 5 richest local governments in Benue state.
The local government was established in September 1991 during Col. Fidelis A. Makka’s military administration.
The major source of income for Ukum Local Government is Agriculture. They have very fertile land that makes the local government boast of agricultural produce and mineral deposits.
One of their major agricultural products is Yam. They have the biggest yam market in the world called Zaki Biam accounting for over 70% of yam cultivated in Africa, making Nigeria by far the world’s largest producer of yams with 18.3 million tonnes from 1.5 million hectares, accounting for over 70–76 percent of the world’s production.
Other crops cultivated in Ukum are Cassava, groundnut, sorghum, sweet potatoes, cowpea, tomatoes, bananas, citrus, mangoes, etc.
4. Otukpo Local Government
Otukpo local government area which is also home to the Och’Idoma Palace is also among the top 5 richest local governments in Benue state.
This LGA was established in the year 1923 making it one of the oldest local governments in Benue state.
Just like Makurdi and Gboko Local Government, Otukpo is one of the best places for commercial activities in Benue state.
The place houses a lot of companies including transportation, banks, Hotels, Fuel Stations, Restaurants, Schools, and many other sectors.
5. Katsina-Ala Local Government
Katsina-Ala local Government is the last on our list. In as much as the local government suffers a lot from terrorists/banditry attacks, it can not be left out of the top 5 richest local governments in Benue state.
This LGA was established in 1976, it’s a cosmopolitan settlement on the Northern Bank of the river from which the town takes its name.
Just like other local governments mentioned above, Katsina-Ala can boast of agricultural production, and there are a lot of businesses and companies functioning in the place. It also houses one of the most popular colleges of Education in Nigeria.
Summary of the Top 5 Richest Local Governments In Benue State
Below is the summary of the top 5 richest local governments in Benue state:
- Makurdi Local Government
- Gboko Local Government
- Ukum Local Government
- Otukpo Local Government
- Katsina-Ala Local Government
Wrapping up
There are other income, property taxes, and sales from the various local government mentioned above but for the sake of time, we only give a summary.
We will keep on updating this page for further changes. Thanks for your time.
Source: Trendingnow.ng
5 comments
Accoding to kotikoleazi benue state is not poor but just that they do not have a good companies they only depend on faming activities but he said that benue state will soonly change aem he go ahead and say that by listing richest Local government in benue state ukum is undoubtable because ukum have the biggest yam market in the world called zaki biam and you know yam is a good source of getting money and not only yam cassava,groundnut and other interested seeds like soghun,rice and beans so food basket of the nation is benue state and is ukum local government that value all the farming activities.People called me Jeremiah Terngu Tyoyima ukpen my districk gladly locate in kyado mbaterem ukum but today i called by name ‘kotikoleazi’ i’m a benue superstar artist with so much talent
I’m proud of Benue state