Sankofa Writing Contest: The Lie About The Talking Zuma Rock.

Good day steemians. This is my entry to an amazing contest organised by the #sankofa community HERE.

The aim of this contest is to share with the world those amazing fairy tale stories our mothers normally told us as kids. Most, if not all of these stories were false and were aimed at scaring us and making us do their biddings. You will get to know the details and how these stories were told to achieve this purpose.

The Talking Zuma Rock

Zuma Rock

For some of those who are in Nigeria and are conversant with the Nigerian terrain, they will be familiar with one of the two biggest rocks in Nigeria located at Suleja which is a town in the outskirts of Abuja, The Federal Capital Territory called the ZUMA ROCK

As a kid, I lived with my parents in Anambra State located in the Eastern part of Nigeria. My life basically revolved around Anambra State and I longed to know what was in the outside world.

One day an aunt came visiting and I was hit with the news of my mum’s departure to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and I wanted to go with her but she refused because it would obstruct my schooling but that wasn’t any of my business. I wanted to leave Anambra and go to some place different for a change.

Unbeknownst to me, my mum had called my aunt to take care of me and my kid brother while she was away.

Mum succeeded in traveling alone and when she returned, she did with a story that scared the shit out of me and my kid bro, but it scared the shit out of me the most because of my obsession with wanting a change of environment. My mum wanted to kill this obsession and so came up with that story.

There are two routes into Abuja and one of them is the route in which one would clearly see the Zuma Rock. My mum made us believe there was only one route into the city and according to her, the Zuma Rock route was the route she took. It was actually her first time and so she was excited to see the Zuma Rock she had always heard about.

She said that the Rock has a pair of eyes, a nose and a mouth. According to her, the rock used to be human but was cursed by the gods many years ago for disobedience and so it stands there, furious and ready to smash anything he see cross its part and so people were very careful when driving through that route into the city.

On hearing this, I was so terrified at the fact that a rock so huge could have a pair of eyes, nose and mouth and according to her, could even speak. I couldn’t get that imagination of my mind and it made me have a natural disgust for the city of Abuja. At that point, I felt, no city outside Anambra was safe enough for me as I could go wherever I wanted in peace without the fear of being smashed by a giant talking rock. You know as kids, we were so gullible and would believe anything an adult says, provided he says it with all seriousness.

My mum told me this story when I was just 4 years old and sadly my dad passed away when I was 7. When he died, an uncle who was based in Abuja decided to take me and my kid brother with him to Abuja so he could train us in school as my mum didn’t have the full capacity to. I cried my liver out on hearing the news and to be sincere, I hated my mum for letting us go to Abuja to die. All through the journey, I kept saying my last prayer and was crying.

But how could a mother gave her children away to be smashed by a giant rock? I thought to myself. She never loved us, I concluded.

Funny enough, we drove all the way to my uncle’s house in karu and I didn’t see any giant talking rock. I was shocked and began to wonder if my mum was actually lying. I walked up to my uncle and asked him about the talking rock called Zuma rock and he started laughing. That was when I realised I had been fooled by my mum. My uncle told me that my mum lied to me and none of the things she said about the rock was true apart from the fact that the rock had indentations on its body which looked like it had eyes, nose and mouth.

You can see the indentations clearly here

At this point, I was very curious to see this rock and after a week my uncle took us to Suleja where this rock is situated and that was when I had peace of mind. The rock was really like nothing described by my mum and till today, I still tell my mum I haven’t forgiven her for almost ruining my childhood with that story.

The beauty of being a child is the total innocence that comes with it. A lot more other stories were told by my mum prior to my journey to Abuja but one after the other, I came to realise, they were all false and at each stage, I just laughed at how ignorant I was to have believed all those stories hook, line and sinker. Well I was a child, what did you expect? LOLZZZ

True and brief history of the Zuma Rock plus things you need to know about the rock that also hold true…

In the 15th century, the zuma rock was first identified in a thick forest by the people of Zuba and Koro. It was initially names Zumwa which means The place for catching Guinea Fowls but was later changed to Zuma which acquired wide adaptation.

When the people of Zuba and Koro settled around the rock at a distance from the rock, they discovered that the rock had strong spirits and they decided to worship the rock and made is their idol, offering sacrifices to it and holding festivals in honour of it.

Over time, the rock became a monument of defence for the people of Gwari against invading neighbouring warriors.

Zuma rock is said to occupy a circumference of 3.1 kilometers and stands as high as 725meters which is said to be more than the height of Aso rock and Olumo rock combined, damn, that’s huge.

The huge Zuma Rock

The rock currently stands as the boundary between Niger State and The Federal Capital Territory with the larger part falling into Niger and the lesser part falling into FCT. It is said to be the Gateway to Abuja.

One of the most interesting thing about this rock is that fact that the apex of the rock is always seen to be in flames during strong rain and thunder storm.

This is one phenomenon that hasn’t been explained by anyone over the years. No wonder the rock is considered to have strong spirits. hehehehe

Well that’s that about The rock I once though could smash me to death. It was really fun hearing those stories and later realising they were all false.