By Msonter Ijoho
The prevailing description of Benue State as a “civil service state” is not only inaccurate, it is economically irresponsible and fundamentally misleading. It is a damaging narrative, designed to mask deeper structural issues while undermining the efforts of millions of enterprising citizens who form the real engine of Benue’s economy.
Benue State’s population stands between 7 and 8 million people. The combined workforce of the state and local government civil service – including teachers under the Teaching Service Board (TSB), local government staff, and core ministries – is approximately 50,000 employees. That is less than 0.7% of the total population, and an even smaller proportion of the state’s estimated economically active population, which sits between 3.5 to 4 million people.
To suggest that the economy of a vibrant, resource-rich state like Benue is driven by the monthly salaries of a minority workforce is to ignore fundamental economic principles. While salaries do play a role in stimulating formal sector consumption (especially in Makurdi, Gboko, and Otukpo), the reality is that Benue’s economy is largely informal, agrarian, and entrepreneur-led.
A more accurate description is that Benue is a PRODUCTION ECONOMY TRAPPED IN A CONSUMPTION MODEL, due to decades of weak industrial planning, poor trade positioning, and unchecked capital flight.
One of the most crippling issues facing Benue is CAPITAL FLIGHT. The state does not produce, nor distribute, most of the goods it consumes. From cement to soap, tiles to electronics, and even sachet water packaging materials, Benue depends on imports from Lagos, Onitsha, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Abuja. Capital Flight is our silent economic strangler.
In Benue State today, the lifeblood of commerce and essential services lies largely in the hands of ethnic groups from outside the state. Over 90% of provision stores, supermarkets, and commodity outlets are owned and operated by Igbos. These same individuals dominate the trade in building materials, heavy-duty equipment, electronics, and mobile phones, accounting for an overwhelming 95% of telecommunications dealerships.
On another front, the Hausa community controls the supply chain for most food items entering the state – from grains to perishable staples. They also dominate the meat industry – supplying cows, pigs, and even fish – and managing the distribution and retail network. When it comes to poultry and its derivatives – eggs, day-old chicks, poultry feeds, and other inputs – the Yorubas serve as the primary suppliers, trucking in massive quantities from the Southwest to feed the needs of Benue’s markets.
What this means is simple: the core essentials and utilities that sustain everyday life in Benue – food, building materials, communication, protein sources, and household needs – are all controlled and distributed by non-indigenous groups. These are not luxury items; they are the basics. The economic arteries of the state are being pumped by outsiders, while the indigenous population remains largely consumers in their own land.
Benue has no strong dealership rights, no major distribution hubs, and no manufacturing base for critical commodities. Benue’s key market players – wholesalers, retailers, and logistics operators – are mere conduits for wealth to other states. Money comes in through trade but flows out without reinvestment, leaving the local economy dry, disconnected, and weak.
This is not merely an economic observation – it is a wake-up call.
Unseen Wealth: Understanding the Informal Economy:
Benue’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is estimated at ₦1.5 billion monthly. At a 7.5% VAT rate, this suggests that at least ₦20 billion in traceable transactions occurs monthly. This estimate does not include the unrecorded activities – like market levies, roadside sales, rural trade, and informal transportation – which likely double this figure. In practical terms, Benue could be circulating between ₦30–₦40 billion monthly through informal enterprise, if fiscal visibility were improved.
Yet, government budgets, policy plans, and economic conversations rarely reflect this invisible engine. Instead, fiscal planning continues to revolve around a narrow, rigid salary-based model…, despite the evidence that informal market dynamics hold far greater weight.
The True Economic Drivers – the economic lifeblood of Benue is found in Farmers in Otukpa, Wannune, Ugba, Yandev, and Kyado producing yams, cassava, citrus, ginger, soybeans, and sesame seeds; Market women in Zaki Biam, Ikpayongo, Adikpo, Otukpo, and Gboko conducting daily trade in foodstuff and household goods; Transporters, artisans, and processors creating localized employment chains; Micro entrepreneurs sustaining daily turnover in communities without formal banking infrastructure. These groups trade daily without formal structure, credit support, or government visibility – but they create more jobs and cash flow than the entire civil service system combined.
The tragedy is that Benue sells raw and buys processed. Farmers are forced to accept ridiculously low farmgate prices. Yams, citrus, soya, and cassava are sold in bulk to middlemen from other states – often below cost. These commodities are processed, repackaged, and sold back to Benue at ten times the value. This creates a terms-of-trade imbalance and locks Benue in a cycle of wealth extraction without retention. The vicious trade cycle.
Until value addition, cooperative-driven aggregation, and local processing are institutionalized, Benue will remain a resource-rich yet income-poor state.
Strategic Policy Recommendations:
To reposition the state economically and break the cycle of dependency, I hereby propose the following structural reforms :
1. Establish Domestic Value Chains
– Create agro-industrial zones for yam flour, citrus juice, soy oil, cassava starch, and ginger extract processing.
– Partner with reputable investors and donor institutions to build modular processing hubs in key LGA clusters.
2. Build Local Dealership Networks
– Facilitate franchise and dealership rights for major national brands in food, hygiene, and construction – to retain profits within Benue.
– Develop bonded warehouse and distribution centers in Makurdi, Gboko, and Otukpo.
3. Informal Sector Registry and Inclusion
– Create an informal economy database – mapping small business operators, cooperatives, artisans, and market women.
– Extend micro-tax and business advisory services, not for exploitation, but to drive inclusion and legitimacy.
4. Prioritize Capital Retention
– Adopt a Buy Benue, Grow Benue procurement model for all government and institutional spending.
– Encourage financial institutions to design credit products for seasonal trade, farming cycles, and micro-scale logistics.
5. Host Annual Benue Economic Dialogue
– Convene stakeholders from academia, private sector, diaspora, and informal market leaders for policy direction, market insights, and investment opportunities.
Conclusion: Reframing the Narrative
Benue is not a civil service state. That idea is a conceptual fraud, a lazy generalization, and a betrayal of data. It is a label that denies the reality of Benue’s entrepreneurial strength, agricultural potential, and untapped trade power.
It is time we stopped feeding this myth. Benue is not poor – it is economically unstructured. It is not unproductive – it is underleveraged. It is not dependent on salaries – it is trapped in a model that has outlived its purpose.
Let us challenge this lie – and in doing so, help rewrite Benue’s economic story with dignity, structure, and prosperity.
Msonter Ijoho, Business Development Consultant & Agribusiness Expert
