After meeting with the president, the group went to see one of Nigeria’s most famous landmarks, Olumo Rock. It is a natural formation rising 137 meters above sea level located in the heart of Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State. Olumo served as a fortress during inter-tribal wars and is also considered a sacred site. The word “Olumo” itself can be translated as “created by God” or “God has put an end to our suffering.”
The group went to bed early. We had to get up at 4 a.m. to catch our flight to Enugu. It was operated by AirPeace, Nigeria’s national airline. The flight was scheduled to depart at 6:45 a.m. The day before the flight, our local guide, Chris, received a message saying the flight was moved up by an hour. Everyone’s spirits sank – we might as well not have gone to bed at all that night. Chris called AirPeace to explain that his group of foreign tourists was very upset about the change in departure time, and AirPeace switched it back to 6:45! The L’eola Hotel was also accommodating and served us breakfast before our early departure. The chaos at the airport was unimaginable, but we took off on schedule and no one’s luggage was lost.
Upon arriving in Enugu, we right away went to the National Museum of Unity where we were given a detailed account of the region’s history. A major coal deposit which is now exhausted was discovered here in 1909, when Nigeria was a British colony, and the city began to grow rapidly. Nigeria gained independence in 1960, with Enugu serving as the capital of the Eastern Region. The situation in independent Nigeria was unstable; the North, South, and East were in conflict, peace talks proved fruitless, and hostilities and riots persisted. In 1967, the East announced its secession from the Nigerian federation. The new state was named the Republic of Biafra with its capital in Enugu. Biafra received little international recognition. Initially, the separatists fought successfully, even advancing to within 200 kilometers of Lagos. The federal government then ordered a mobilization; federal troop numbers subsequently far surpassed the separatist forces, and the Republic of Biafra ceased to exist in 1970. This civil war is considered the bloodiest in Africa during the 1960s.
The plan was to visit a spring next and possibly go for a swim. We returned to the hotel, grabbed our swimwear, and got back on the bus. As soon as we left the city, we hit a terrible traffic jam. After sitting in it for an hour and a half, we decided there was no point in continuing.
We managed to turn around amidst the traffic and made our way to a supermarket, where everyone stocked up on food for dinner. We had stopped for a meal earlier in the day, but that was quite a while ago. No one felt like sitting in a restaurant, so we bought snacks like cheese, yogurt, nuts, and fruit, and ate in our rooms.
