Located in Niger state, Nigeria, the sheer beauty and grandeur of Zuma rock is almost hard to pin down in words. If you’ve never believed in anything divine, then this natural wonder might just be what changes your mind.
Composed of gabbro and granodiorite, the rock which has been a sort of refuge and pride to the locals has a number of myths about its existence that you’ve probably never heard about.
For today’s edition of Travel, we discuss three of these myths about the Zuma rock.
1. The rock sits stop a large expense of water.
According to the locals, if the rock is taken away, a large body of water hidden underground will flood the land and submerged everything in its path.
Well, as far as we know this superstitious belief has not been accepted by science, so we’ll just debunk it.
2. During the rainy season, the rock catches fire
Another myth says that Zuma rock catches fire during the rainy season, which is between April and October in Nigeria. The belief is that this happens at the peak of the rock
However, Dr. Kistso Ngargbu, a geologist and lecturer at Nasarawa State University,Keffi, objects to this belief.
“If it is after rainfall and a particular boulder or broken pieces of the rock got saturated with water, that’s the contact between heat and the main rock body.
“In the event that it had to slide because water now serves as a lubricating surface, friction is created. We should remember that our forefathers used to make fire from rocks glided against each other.
Read more:Â Travel: 3 Seafood Restaurants In Lagos To Try Out
“That is what could have happened. Rain water got to the surface, lubricated the boulder and then generated a sliding probably based on a sloppy surface, and in the event of sliding down the fire came up.”
3. The rock has a human face
Strange as this sounds, some people actually believe that Zuma rock with its picture on the back of the N100 note has a face, with features such as mouth, eyes, nose.
The locals hold the belief that the rock has psychic powers and that the face represents the deity and ancestors guiding the people. It is also believed that the rock is a sort of gateway to another life.
Photo Credit: Instagram
