Places of Obinofia Ndiuno

Location

Obinofia Ndiuno is described as blessed with hollow hills housing the “world giant cave”, located at Ihuezi, an integral part of Umuonaga village. It has a chief priest whose selection is described as theocratic.

Description from the archive

The cave is said to be endless, with an entrance curved like a church gate and unimaginably heavy rocks forming the framework in an unequalled artistic design. The inner part is as dark as night even in the sunniest time of the day; anyone entering must carry a powerful torch with new batteries and spares. A stranger must be led by someone familiar with the place or risk getting lost.

• The bed of the cave has very shallow water, to the feet level.
• The initial entry is very wide until one reaches the “Parlour”, then a narrow tunnel leads to an area divided like rooms.
• In the Parlour is a large seat like a royal throne, and other smaller seats facing it.
• Above is a very wide opening that leads into the open space; the cave’s temperature is friendly, with a sea-like gentle breeze.
• In the outer part of the cave are giant bats, and further in, other harmless animals, both domestic and wild.

Custom requires that one does not hunt down more than one type of animal at a given time; the tradition warns that doing so makes one’s torchlight go off, and possibly the person disappears mysteriously. Females are prohibited from wearing trousers (pants) into the cave.

Stories & traditions

In legend, the cave is remembered as God’s Kingdom: following God’s command that the waters of neighbouring lands be gathered at Obinofia as a reward for hospitality, He is said to have commanded the surrounding hills to gather and form a hollow passage, and lived there overseeing the world; people came to consult Him face to face. He is said to have created the first set of twelve giants and twelve dwarfs (twelve male, twelve female) to vary human sizes, and gave the various peoples of the world their languages.

When the sunshine intensified, the legend says, He ascended into the sun through the wide opening in the cave’s roof, and from there continues to oversee the world. It was after this that some indigenes migrated from Obinofia, saying that “the glory has departed from Obinofia”.

Cultural importance

The cave is central to the community’s spiritual and historical identity, tied to the covenant of waters, the oral tradition of God’s kingdom, and the civil-war refuge. The book also records a scientific note: a team of Geology students of the then Anambra State University of Science and Technology (ASUTECH), Enugu, reported that “The Lake metamorphosed about 3000 years ago” (cited to Satellite Newspaper, June 23, 1982).

The kingdom-and-ascension accounts are presented as the community’s oral tradition and belief, not as established scientific fact.

Location & description

Heneke Lake is located at Ihuezi, and partly at Omughu Obeleagu Umana. It measures over 250 sq cm in length and 200 sq cm wide by the account in the book, and is believed to be bottomless and unswimmable. Naturally, dogs can swim in any water, the book notes, but no dog ever tries to swim across Heneke Lake.

Wonders of the lake

• In the morning time, the water flows upward.
• Once it is 12 noon, it stands still.
• When it is evening, it flows downward.
• The water changes colour from time to time, like a chameleon, depending on the time of day and the weather.
• It retains water all year round.
• The fish of the lake are never killed, as it is believed to be sacred.

Rites

Sacrifices are carried out in the lake to appease its spirit every year. Failure to do so, the tradition holds, makes the lake overflow its banks and wreak havoc on the people’s farmlands in protest.

The origin story

History has it that a man lived with his family in an isolated thatched mud-walled hut in Ihuezi, over-reserved, talking only once in a day. People tried to dissuade him from building at that location, but he insisted. On a fateful day, after re-sharpening his machete on the special stone, he stumbled on a stone at his doorstep. The stone shifted forcefully from its position and immediately water came out and flooded the place, forming the lake. His hut collapsed under the weight of the water and was submerged. He then built another hut nearer his kinsmen, having learnt to socialize with other people.

The covenant

Heneke Lake is remembered as a symbol of an agreement or covenant between the people of Obinofia and God that the waters of Obinofia will never run dry. The colouring of the water symbolizes the waters of the neighbouring towns which, because of their peoples’ selfishness, God ordered to flow down to Obinofia in appreciation of the community’s generosity and hospitality.

The origin story and the wonders of the lake are presented as the community’s oral tradition and belief.

Description

O gba-agada waterfall is a spring-stream which foams more than the most active detergent. Its water, which sparkles powerfully, has its source at Ihuezi. It flows through a rocky passage into the river, providing a soothing effect on the body when one is in it.

The book records the community’s claim that O gba-agada produces the neatest and naturally purest water in black Africa, and counts it among the greatest falls in the world, attracting tourists in their thousands on excursions, picnics, holidays, tourism, film shootings and research. These superlative claims are recorded here as they appear in the source, framed as the community’s account.

Spiritual implications

The waterfall is said to have certain spiritual implications among the people living around it: whenever a man is about to die, the flowing water pressure produces a sound like the traditional Ikpa music; as soon as the man dies, the sound ceases. When it is a woman about to die, it produces the beat of Udu music — the traditional instrument used in burying women, especially non-Christians — and the special beat and sound cease once the woman dies.

The spirit of the water is appeased once a year with the sacrifice of goat, fowl, and more.

The sound signs are presented as tradition and belief, not as scientific observation.