It is never too late to be what you might have been. George Eliot

Olumo Rock…The Ageless Fortress of The Egbas Beckons Tourists From Everywhere

At mid-morning sometimes in November last year, the ancient city of Abeokuta is a sprawling settlement under the haze of thick dust and harmattan fog. Visibility is a challenge except for the fortunate ones with a gift of optical acuity. And passing vehicles does not help matters. They raise swirl of dust in their wake, leaving a residue of powdery air on the houses nearby and passersby.   Yet, the people of Abeokuta go about their business oblivious of this fallout. Everyone seems to be going towards directions where dust further thickens. Only a few is heading towards the safety of Olumo Rock, the most pristine part of the town.
O-l-u-m-o Rock. This is the place where clear sky spreads out itself atop an outsize rock. It is indeed an irony of history that the same place where the people of Egba had taken refuge centuries ago is now a place less visited except by the foreigners from far afield.
Back in time, this fortress was the Rock of Gibraltar of the Egbas. It was an ideal place of refuge when the Egba people were under the attack of enemies from the next door. The people then believed that God built the rocky fortress exclusively for their security. Little wonder they later christened it Olu’mo, which means ‘built by God for our refuge’. Some historians would however insist that the Olu’mo is the short version of Oluwa fimo, meaning ‘God has put an end to our suffering and wandering’. It is no understatement to say that the Egbas suffered recurring misfortune in history. But not many people remember those trying times anymore. The memory of that turbulent era has dissolved with the passage of time.
Today, very few people would bear in mind the details of epic battle fought by the Egbas against the warlords of Old Oyo Empire, the slave hunters of Dahomey and other vicious raiders of the Egba kingdom.  In the 1842 Battle of Arakanga, Egba people reportedly defeated the Ibadan army, and with assistance from missionaries, defeated Dahomey army led by King Gezo.  Historians also recorded the account of tribal wars of survival fought by the Egbas against the people of Ota in 1842; Ado, 1844; Ibarapa, 1849; Ijebu Ere, 1851; Ijaye, 1860-1862 and Makun, 1862-1864. 
Perhaps much fewer natives still retain the memory of valiant deeds of warlords such Sodeke, the first Balogun of Egbaland; Ogunbona, the Balogun of Ikija; Okunene, the Sagbua of Ake and head of Ogboni fraternity; Apati, Bada of Kemta; Alatise; Adagba, the hunter/farmer and a host of others. Sodeke, the account says,  led Egba people from Orile Egba to Abeokuta in 1830.  Certainly, not many children in Egbaland are familiar with this detail anymore. Yet this apathy is forgivable because time is the robber of memory.
Notwithstanding, Olumo Rock, a 37m high boulder stone stands deviant to this steady incursion of memory loss. A resolute custodian of Egba history, Olumo Rock tells the stories of a courageous people who have mastered the art of survival even in the most precarious environment.  And so, in the eyes of the Egbas, the rock is a deity.
Right from the entrance of Olumo Rock Tourist Complex (ORTC), the majesty of the igneous rock formed by molten lava through a volcanic eruption million years ago, according to geological account of the area, is unmistaken. Surrounded by dense greenery, the rock from a distance looks like a leprous beast in the middle of a forest. This fearsome magnificence endows Olumo Rock a kind of spiritual aura that makes a first time visitor stands in awe of its prominence.“In this rock lies the rich history of Egba people,” says Kola Anidugbe, the General Manager of ORTC.
It is for this reason the government of Ogun state through ORTC has decided to preserve Olumo Rock, not only as a memorial to their progenitors and a living museum with vestiges of ancient belief system, but also as a tourist town for the people from all walks of life.  Efforts of the past and present administrations have resulted in the transformation of the community from its primitive state into a modern tourist centre.  Yet, this is achieved without defiling the purity of Olumo Rock.  Alongside the modern fixtures in the Olumo Rock complex are the relics of the earlier settlers, shrines, worshippers of deities, living animals, plants and trees, so much that the general setting of Olumo Rock now is a hybrid of primitivity and modernity.
In the past, one needed to climb endless steps along a staircase that is almost perpendicular in order to get to the mountaintop, now an elevator has been installed to lift tourists up to the mountain peak. The gradual ascent of the elevator allows a panoramic view of the surrounding beauty of Abeokuta. And from the top, one can see scattered forests bordering clusters of buildings with rusty roofs, and the winding Ogun River intersecting arrays of buildings. During the colonial era, that river used to be an important route for traders carrying goods by canoe between Abeokuta and the Lagos colony.
Within sights are structures of high historical values. One of such monuments is the building that first accommodated Baptist Boys’ High School, Abeokuta.  Rev. S.G Pinnock, a Methodist Missionary who later became a Baptist established the school on Friday 23rd January 1923. ‘Egunya Hill’, as the building is formerly called, accommodated the school till 1974 when it was relocated to Oke –Saje. Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) is now using the school for transmission because of its height advantage. The old residence of the colonial District Officers of Egba Division, Mr. John Blair and Mr. J.G Pyke still stands tall in the city. The building is now being preserved as the permanent Government House of Ogun state.
St. Peters Anglican Cathedral, Ake, the first church in Nigeria also lies within line of sight. Eminent missionaries the likes of Mr. Henry Townsend, Rev. C.A. Golmer and Rev. Ajayi Crowther ministered in this church. Then, there is the Central Mosque Kobiti, the only mosque where the Egba Muslim community converges for Friday prayers. The mosque was re-built in 1925. Among the places of historical significance visible from the crest of Olumo Rock is the family house of the Nigerian icon of democracy, Bashorun MKO Abiola. In addition to these historical structures are the arrays of dated houses dotting the landscape of the ‘Gateway City’.   Abeokuta, literally translated as the city underneath the rock, indeed belongs to the class of ancient simplicity. 
Nevertheless, a tour of the Olumo Rock Tourist Complex does not begin with ride to the mountaintop. Visitors are first taken round the 500-seat capacity multi-purpose hall where conferences, seminars, workshops and symposia are held on regular basis. The hall is soundproof to prevent noise interference from reaching outside where other tourists enjoy the serenity of the centre. In the wisdom of the planners of the complex, it is better to keep the auditorium far from the crowd that visit during festive periods.
Behind the auditorium is the museum which comprises of art gallery and research and documentation department. The gallery features works such as painting, sculpture, figurines and books. Oyedeji Banji, the curator of Olumo Rock art gallery, describes the gallery as “a meeting point of contemporary and historical arts”. Prominent in the gallery are the works of Mr. Anidugbe. One of them captures the developmental stages of Olumo Rock from its primitive state to the modern state.
Next to the museum is a restaurant and Bush Bar where both local and European food and drinks are served. Tourists usually prefer local rice tucked inside a wrap of wide green leaves, garnished with small chunks of assorted meats, and stew prepared with green pepper and red palm oil. Most meals go with fresh frothing palm wine, the type that produces multiple winks when it settles down in the calabash, and causes satisfying belch from the belly. Nearby is a music stand from where blends of highlife and Afro music waft steadily. “Life is fun here eh,” a tourist wonders aloud.But the real excitement is the tour of the mountain. The tour officer, Ms Modupe Adebayo is a bubbly character with the gift of the gab. “Don’t be afraid for anything; we never had a casualty here – none that I know of,” she announced cheerfully. According to her, the denizens of Olumo Rock are benevolent spirits who see to the safety of every tourist who come visiting. And for this favour, the Egba community led by its paramount ruler, Alake, offers rituals of a big black cow to the deities every fifth of August. During the festival, the Egbas regardless of their religious faith assemble at Olumo Rock with different requests. That is why the praise poem of Olumo Rock starts thus: Olumo abel’owo, abel’omo, abel’oro, meaning the deity that pleads to God on behalf of the mortals for riches, children and wealth. 
The tour of the mountain range starts at the first landing, named Lisabi Garden. It is a natural garden hanging on the rock. What is really peculiar about this garden is the presence of aged trees such as flamboyant tree, which produces flower of Barbados;  The neem (Dongoyaro) tree, which is used to cure malaria and halitosis, and baobab tree (adansonia digitata) known as the king of trees in Yorubaland. On their own, the trees are symbol of endurance having survived for many decades on the rocky plane and outlived several Alakes.
 The baobab tree is perhaps the biggest and the longest living tree on Olumo rock according to the report of researchers from different universities. The Egba people believe the tree is inhabited by the deity of longevity, Orisa Igun. Therefore worshippers gather round the ‘mystical’ tree every March during the 30-day festival of Orisa Igun to offer gratitude and pray for longer life.
Somewhere on the East side of the mountain is the main shrine where the devotees of Orisa Igun, mainly old women, have taken permanent residence. In their estimation, proximity to the space of the deity is an assurance of long life.  The priestess of Orisa igun, Chief Mrs. Sinatu Aduke Amusa (aka Iya Olumo) is a living testimony of the claim of the longevity power of the god. She will be 130 years old this year. The postal of her 128th birthday celebration two years ago is hung on the wall of her small house on the rock.  “She has been living in this place since I know her, says the tour guide. “Kind –hearted tourists sometime give money to her and her acolytes, and she in return consults the god on their behalf. She also offers prayers for them.” 
In front of the worshippers’ den is Akoko tree. The leaf of this tree does not wither either during the dry or rainy season. And the leaf is one of the necessary ritual objects used in the coronation of Alake, says Ms. Adebayo. In Yorubaland of the Southwest Nigeria, coronation ritual of a king is incomplete without the Akoko leaf. At metaphysical level, Akoko leaf is deemed to have the power to preserve the life of a king.
Right under a slab of boulder is Oju’bo Obalu’aye, also known as Sonpono, the deity that visits people with small pox. The affected ones are brought to this shrine for cure. Around this place, the relics of the earlier inhabitants of olumo Rock are preserved through sculptural art form by Olumo Art Movement Group led by Mr. Anidugbe in 1984. The sculpture represents the struggle and hazard of the settlers went through when they were hiding inside the rock. The illustration includes human heads, pots, cowries etcetera. The standing heads represents the survivors while the buried heads represents those who did not survive the period of adversity. Cowries are used to represent the Yoruba custom of consulting Ifa before a decision is taken.
The last stage of the tour is at the summit of the rock. Tourists can either follow the elevator or take the ancient route. The latter is a slippery rock-strewn path that tests human sense of coordination and stability. Passing this route causes a feeling of vertigo even in the brave ones. “This is the passage used by the early settlers when going to the mountaintop. And anything that falls from your pocket here cannot be retrieved. So keep your phones and other valuable items safe,” the tour guide warns. Expectedly, not a few opted for the elevator.
At the top of the mountain, the entire city of Abeokuta lay beneath like a huge canvas of a surrealist painting, and at the edge of this canvas is a thin line where the sky meets the earth.  No eye can behold such incongruous splendor of nature except it sees from the crest of Olumo Rock.

Source:Guardian Newspaper online