The hidden wonders of Iva
valley
The hills rolled undulating
in the background. I paused for a minute to simmer in the beauty of nature. But
I was roused from my daydream by the shouts of the keke drivers.
“Iva valley!” Several
of them called out. I dragged my guide toward the nearest keke driver. After
some minutes of describing my destination to him, we hopped in with other
passengers carrying chickens and eggs. The chickens clucked and flapped noisily
at the back of the vehicle but it did not stop me for enquiring about the coal
mine from the driver. From his response, it was apparent that he has no idea of
where we were going to. He dropped us at the last bus stop and left us to our
fate.
I asked a laundry man
at the junction for direction. He pointed uphill. We slowly ascended the hill
while the residents peered queerly at us. I noticed that all the buildings were
the same architectural style of broken stone murals. A huge metal underground
pipe caught our attention. A teenager
and his toddler brother walked past us. I approached him and asked what the
pipe was for. He explained that it
transport water from downhill. We asked him for direction, he pointed to a gully-stricken
road adjacent to us.
We climbed the hill skipping
over huge stones and depression. The path led us to someone’s backyard and
several pair of eyes greeted us with suspicion.
“What do you want?”
they called out. After minutes of awkward
conversation, we were shown a tiny path glazed with multi colour stones. I picked one and dropped
it in my bag. The path led us to settlement
called “ukwu pick” camp one. Once again, the murals of the houses were of the
same style with the ones we saw downhill.
The red broken stone looked as if it was splashed carefully on the
walls.
Once again people cast
uncertain gazes at us. We approached a
lady plaiting her daughter’s hair. She smiled as she answered us.
“There are no coals
here”. She said. “But it was dumped here in the past, and this place used to be
the settlement of the miners. The coal mine is located in camp 2. what we have here is the water reservoir.” She said pointing to north.
We decided to see the reservoir first before
the coal mine. We mount the steep hill
carefully avoiding stones and depression. Then we spotted the reservoir far
away with it gigantic splendour. The hike towards it got longer and we decided
to cut it off and proceed to the coal mine.
Standing on top of the hill, we could see
the other imposing hills that surrounded the city.
The steep edges rolled into
jagged valley that thrived with different trees and shrubs. Houses of all kinds
and colours looked like a painting from far.
I felt like an artist but all I could do was to snap.
My tired guide smiled.
The view was simply breath taking; I mentally constructed a verse for Enugu.
For the first time, I noticed my guide wasn’t dressed for hiking. While descending, we saw a golden stretched
waterway that snaked itself through the valley.
We hurried downhill and
asked some children playing along the dusty road for directions. Immediately
their parents shot out like a snake waiting for it prey.
“What do you want?” They
stressed in Igbo. My guide explained, and we were directed to the river. From
their faces I could see that they thought we were weird for roaming aimlessly
and wanting to go to the river. The kids
followed us from a distance while they sang obscene songs.
An ancient building caught
my eyes, it was a catholic church that looked abandoned, and the architectural
style was simple yet magnificent in its own queer way. The children ran inside to continue with
their hide and seek. There, they wave us good bye. We walked downhill running
into people’s backyards, apologizing for our intrusion and finally we were led
to camp 2 highway.
Words cannot describe
how we felt when we got to the highway. The heat of the sun was maddening and
our backs were badly scorched. We waved to the construction guys and asked our
way through. Once again the beautiful yellow river down the valley beckoned to
us. We saw children and adults bathing downstream and I urged my guide to let
us see it.
We deviated from the
road, and walked towards the river. We got to a steep precipice and we were
forced to wait. Soon, some children came by, and skillfully they manoeuvred
their way down. I called them back to assist us and like a wind they were up
leading us downhill.
We saw a man in a deep
pool of muddy water digging out pebbles. We paused for a moment and watched him
work. Then he turned and saw us. We greeted him; he nodded in reply and asked
us what we wanted. Above him a gigantic tunnel had broken off, and some part of
it hanged precariously above his head. We asked him to tell us what the tunnel
meant. He smiled and rested for a while.
 |
| looks like Eyo masquerade |
“This tunnel was built
to transport coal mine by the white”. He said. “It used to link to the other
side. But it collapsed in 1980.” He scratched his head to recall more
information. “This is also a clay site.” He continued.
The river ran as if it
was being pursued. It ripples crashed hastily on the rock churning out a deep
gorge from it. There were some points where the river was wide and flowed
sluggishly. The river is called Mmiri Ocha meaning yellow river. I stood at the
adjoining rock where currents collided with rocks to form a mini water fall. Then
I cupped my hands into it to fetch the golden water. I noticed that all the
plants that grew around it glow in lushness despite having their root inside
the hard rock. The locals took advantage of the river and grew their crop along
it.
I saw a coal bed and
picked something that looks like coal. My guide insisted it was not coal. But I
disagreed. The man came down and asked us what our mission there was. We said
we were researchers. I showed him what I found and he laughed.
“That’s not coal”. He exclaimed. “It’s the shit.” He spoke in
pidgin. We wonder what “shit” meant so I asked for clarification. “It the
chaff: the by-product of coal”. He went on. “Wait let me see if I can find one
to show you”. He said as he waded in the river. “The river is a bit shallow
because it in the dry season, come back in the rainy season to see the beauty
of this river.”
 |
| coal residue that i found |
We watched him from the
other side as he picked up something from the mud. Then he saw something and
strode towards us. “Here is the real coal”. He said with pride.
I noticed it was darker in color and harder
than what I found earlier. We sat at the river bed and watch Mmiri Ocha flow. I
wonder where it flowed from and where it flowing to. This river is indeed a blessing
to these people as their life centered on it. It must have been their drinking
source in the past before they had tap water. It rippling sound was symphony to
my ears. I wonder if there was a goddess somewhere in the shallow waters. But
the river flowed on with it glistening golden hue unaware of my thoughts. I
dipped my hands in the water and I noticed we almost had the same shade. Oh the
children have been calling me Nwanyi ocha meaning fair lady. What a perfect
fit! “When Nwanyi Ocha meets Mmiri Ocha”. It will make a perfect title! Then I
remembered that we were supposed to see the coal mine. I woke my guide from his
reverie, then we hiked the hills and walked back to camp 2 road.
It was getting late
already. We saw snatches of the yellow river from thickets of bushes down the
valley. We passed a bridge where the river tumbled with force and moved towards
the coal mine. This road was sandy and dusty as the Sahara .My guide looked at
his carefully black polished shoe which has now turned brown and sighed. There
was no vehicle leading to our direction so we had to walk.
We got to a forest, and
branched to a path we thought led to the coal mine. My guide stood at a far
distance, but I went on. Then I saw it! I saw Mmiri Ocha with all of it
splendour splashing down from a boulder. Words cannot explain what I felt! Then
like a magnet I was pulled to get closer and closer. Groves of trees hid the rest
of this lovely river. I got closer to take shots but I realised I was the only
one there. Alas! My guide has left me! For a moment I froze, and different scary
thoughts crept on me.
I ran back as fast as
my legs could carry me. Then I saw him throwing stones at the trees. I was angry
for a moment until something caught my attention. It was a chunk of coal on the
ground. I quickly grabbed my treasure and we walked down the road. We saw a
woman who was gathering firewood. She dissuaded us for going.
“It late, biko , come back next time, it a
lonely forest and there might be bad things around”. She said in Igbo. My face
felled but I knew we had to leave because it was already past six pm. I sighed
in sadness and promised to come back to see Mmiri Ocha and the coal mine.
