Nkalaha, one of the localities that make up Ishielu Local Government Area in Ebonyi State, was located in the area’s northern region.

The sole access road to Nkalaha Community, located in the Ishielu local government area of Ebonyi shape, South East Nigeria, is in a terrible shape, which has been lamented by the community’s population.

Nkalaha, one of the localities that make up Ishielu Local Government Area in Ebonyi State, was located in the area’s northern region.

Its borders are shared by the following communities: Benue State; other communities; Obeagu, Amazu, Umuahia, Ngbo, Effium, and Eha-Amufu in Enugu State.

Similar to Obeagu village, Nkalaha community is a border community without access roads.

To put it briefly, the only ways to get to the neighbourhood are by motorbike or on foot.

The community’s members have also participated in self-help, but their efforts have not yielded enough results to address the problems on the road.

With a population of roughly 10,000, most of whom are farmers, and being one of the host communities of NIGERCEM—the dying premier cement industry that was at the epicentre of economic development in Eastern Nigeria—the Nkalaha people are suffering greatly as a result of the terrible state of their road.

In order to go to Nkalaha, one must travel through Egedegede Junction on the Nkalagu-Eha-Amufu route. There, one must load up his car and board a commercial motorbike, also known as an okada, which is the only way to get to the region.

Okada drivers charge between N4000 and N2000 from the Nkalagu junction or between N1500 and N2000 to transport a passenger on the dirt road, which is around five kilometres long. The passenger may occasionally be requested to walk a short distance in order to prevent the motorbike from being stuck in the mud. This is due to the poor quality of the road.

In order to take advantage of the area’s agricultural potential and facilitate their transportation, the locals requested that the government give the road immediate attention.

“We need help from the government because this road is too bad. People are suffering too much because of the road,” bemoaned a road user going by the name Chikodi Odo. “Recently only tractor that convey agricultural products from Egedegede junction to Nkalaha and from Nkalaha to Egedegede junction.”

Farmers James Eze and Mrs. Precious Edeh said SaharaReporters on a Saturday visit to the village that the road’s layout has deterred farmers from doing business at their neighbourhood Orie Market, particularly in the rainy season.

We endure it to such a degree that we are unable to move our stuff outside. The farmers bemoaned, “Look at the machine, everything is suffering, there is no movement at all.”

According to investigations, some loved ones’ bodies who passed away outside of the community have been in the mortuary for months since there isn’t a road that ambulances can use to transport them back home.

Additionally, motorbikes are used to transport the deceased from the community whose relatives reside outside to the mortuary.

Because there is no access route, these remains are held until the dry season before being buried.

Samuel Odo talked about his father’s corpse being brought back for burial two months prior.

“If you attempt to bring a corpse here by mistake, it means that you have to bring the corpse here on head or Okada from Egedegede.” This is because we are unable to deliver corpses due to the topography of our path.

“We were unable to extract the car from the mud for hours on end during my father’s funeral. The tractor operating on a field came to our aid that day, transporting the body to our hamlet and removing the ambulance, which is what kept us alive. Every individual who attended the burial from the outside made the 4-kilometer walk. It was equally terrifying and awful.

“We took that bitter experience because we have calculated the worsening economic situation in the country with increasing taxes on keeping corpses in the mortuary,” he continued.

The Ebonyi Community and Social Development Agency of the Ebonyi State Government is reported to have given N10 million to the people in 2020, while the River Basin Authority of the Federal Government awarded a contract to build a bridge at the Ora River that would connect the region to the rest of the state.

Similar to the nearby hamlet of Obeagu, where the government had completely compensated the contractor, the bridge’s construction was abandoned.

A shopkeeper stated, “Our people have been pleading with the government to assist them, but to no effect, this road has been like way since I was born. You have the opportunity to observe it directly. Allow the government to act swiftly to save us if they wish to assist us.

“We only have two options for moving products throughout our community: wheelbarrows or carrying them on our heads. It costs more as a result of that. Due to transportation costs, our people pay three times the price of any item. The absence of an access road is the cause of this.