ZUMA ROCK:The mysterious gate to Abuja, by Funke Oyinbo
I lived in the capital of Nigeria Abuja in 2013.
It
is a very beautiful neat city with , in my
opinion, two biggest tourism attractions: Zuma
Rock and Abuja National Mosque.
Zuma Rock
rises spectacularly immediately north of
Nigeria’s capital Abuja , along the main road
from Abuja to Kaduna, and is sometimes
referred to as the “Gateway to Abuja.”
The
Rock is located on the border of Niger State
and The Federal Capital Territory Abuja
FCT like Mountain Kilimanjaro of Tanzania,
which is on the border of Tanzania and Kenya
and is associated more with Kenya . It is
compared to Australia’s Uluru (Ayers
Rock). Although only one-third as wide as
Uluru, Zuma Rock is more than twice as high
from its base, rising 725 meters above its
surroundings.
Hence it is considered by many
scientists as the second largest monolith in the
world after Ayers Rock. This enormous granite
monolith has become a symbol of unity as it
represents the ideology behind establishing a
new capital city of Nigeria on neutral ground.
Zuma is depicted on the 100 naira note.
In general Abuja has many rocks, but Zuma
Rock definately stands out from others. There
is a belief that it was a meteorite fallen from
the sky and may be that is why it is covered in
mystery and is worshipped by local tribes.
Origins of the name
Zuba people (koro by tribe) came into Abuja
area /Niger state in the 15th century.
Zuba
found there were many Guinea-Fowls around
Zuma Rock in the forest, and started to hunt
them and named the rock, “Zumwa”, meaning
“place of catching Guinea-Fowls ” . Initially, in
the Koro language it was called “Ezumwa ba”
that is, “Place of catching Guinea-Fowls”.
That
is how the rock got its name originally as
“Zumwa” when it became shortened to
“Zuma” .
Legends and beliefs
Most people, especially indigenes, who reside
arround Zuma Rock, such as Gbagyi people
(Gwari), Gauaka, Dakwa, as well as Madalla
Zuba, paint various traditional mystirious
beliefs surrounding the rock.
1. The most popular legend of Zuma rock is
that people believe it talks through images
which make people refer to it as the Rock with
image.
As the tourist gets closer, a human like
face becomes visible with engravings
representing the eye sockets, the nose and the
mouth on the side of the rock that faces the
Abuja – Kaduna express road. Some people
inteprete the image as the head of a lion,
representing dignity and from Abuja side, the
rock resembles the shape of a kneeling
elephant, representing strength.
of a cutlass, promoting agriculture.They also
believe that on top of the rock, there is an
image of a Fulani woman with a calabash on
her head.
2. Rock is haunted by spirits which protect the
area. The Rock was used for a defensive
retreat by the Gbagyi people (Gwari) against
invading neighbouring tribes during inter-tribal
wars. Once the tribe visited Zuma Rock with
sacrifices, automatically the war was won. No
war against Zuba by any group, has ever been
successful, both within and outside Zuba
chiefdom.
For example, beliefs say that at the
beginning of 19th century the jihadists could
not penetrate into Zuba chiefdom and environs
because of the powers of Zuba (Zuma Rock).
The practice of sacrifices to Zuma Rock lasted
till around middle of 20th century when Islamic
religion became strong to stop pagan
practices. But locals still insist that rituals,
including human sacrifices, are still performed
nowadays around this area.
It is said that some years ago, the tourism
authorities in Niger state invited foreign
investors to develop this area into a tourist
attraction.
They built a fine hotel near the rock,
but unfortunately the business didn’t perform
as well as they had hoped.
After rumors
circulated that several builders and engineers
were accidently killed and later several guests
were found dead in their rooms, the five star
hotel was closed.
Locals declared that the
white men from Canadian tourism develoment
company refused to heed the warnings of the
villagers not to erect the hotel near Zuma
Rock. They not only ignored them but went
ahead to commence the construction right at
the heart of the rock.
The hotel faced the
human face on the rock, it offended deities.
3. Many claim that the rock has been
responsible for the reoccurring incidents and
accidents along the Abuja-Kaduna Road
leading to the loss of lives along the axis.
4. There is a legend of the fire and thunder
from the top of the rock. Every first week of
the year, there has always been visible fire
burning on top of the rock from time to time
accompanied by a loud thunder. According to
the legend, when this fire is seen, something of
note happens in the land before the year runs
out.
5.The most important myth of Zuma Rock is
that it is the Heart of Nigeria located (in exact
geographical centre of the country) 780 Km to
Lagos in the South-West, 729Km to Calabar in
the South-East both on the Atlantic Ocean
Coast; and 748Km to Sokoto in the North-
West near the border with Niger Republic and
704 Km to Maiduguri in the North-East near
the border of Chad!
OTHER INTERESTING BELIEFS:
1. In those days Zuma rock was the home of
the deads i.e. when people die they believe
that their spirits go to the rock.
2. All masquerades come from Zuma rock
since masquerades are believed to be spirits
of the deads.
3. Zuma rock is sitting on a very large source
of underground water, that if the rock is pulled
down, the water that will come out of it shall
submerge an unimaginable expense of land.
4. Before no tribe could go into the forest of
Zuma R ock and speak in any language apart
from Koro language because it was said if one
supposedly spoke any other language such
person would die.
5. Forefathers believed that before the end of
time, Zuma rock shall be at the centre of a
very large and densely populated settlement.
The movement of Federal Capital from Lagos
to Abuja, and recent developments are
confirming the local belief.
Irrespective of mysteries surrouding Zuma
Rock, this magnificent edifice should be visited
by tourists and promoted across the world!!!.
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