THE DAIRY GAME : THE GEOLOGIC LIFE IN EDO STATE, NIGERIA
Hello my fellow Steemians, today on my daily diary I will be sharing with us my wonderful experience on one of my Geologic fieldtrips to some parts of the famous Edo State in Nigeria.
Being a Geologists comes with a lot of experiences which will test a person’s strength of resilience and the same time overwhelm one with the beauty of nature and its loads of endowments.
Years ago, in my days in The Department of Earth Sciences (Geology Option) at The Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta State, We the students were mandated to go on a field trip at the end of each semester in company of selected lecturers to carry out practical field work of all we have learnt during the semester. It was a combo of a whole lot of learning experience.
EXPLORING A NEW TURF
I always thought Edo State would possess a simple terrain as that of my State, Delta! This because I never travelled beyond Benin City each time, I visited Edo State and my first year of pulling through into the upper northern ends of the state left me surprised and till date the memories remain green in my head. It took us approximately seven (7) hours to getto our location, Igarra, a certain community in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo state. As we approached our destination, I began to see a whole new terrain that rather looked strange to my eyes. Massive mountainous rocks on either side of the road, the road keeps looking so high and elevated upfront just like in the movies. It was a wonderful side to behold.AKOKO-EDO
Akoko-Edo, an ancient region located in the northern part of Edo state in the south of the Niger-Benue Confluence became our major area of exploration because it happened to contain most of the geologic rocks we needed to study. The entire terrain of the area is a beauty to behold. We were lodged in a hotel named “Rems Hotels” at the outskirt of Igarra. From there we set out into the rugged and mountainous terrain of Igarra with our geologic maps, completing every slated task as given by our instructors. For destinations that are farther from the hotel and not trekkable, our luxurious school bus (Marcopolo) often drops us off at strategic points from where we set into the rocks to map and explore. We often share ourselves in groups so as to work faster and efficiently depending on the given task. There are those to take the strike and dip of rock formations (examining the degree of relative positions of exposed igneous rocks in the surface with the use of a compass clinometer), Those to record the collected data, those to sketch and take pictures of rock formations, those to prepare the geologic map of the explored area and so on. These whole experiences can be very challenging and strenuous, especially when the scorching sun wouldn’t give you a break but that is not an issue for a geologist as we have been trained to endure and stay persistent till we achieve our aim.SOMORIKA (THE ANCIENT HOME)
One of the most thrilling places we visited was Somorika, the ancient home. A town located about five kilometres North-East of igarra in the Akoko-Edo Local Government area. As the name implies “The Ancient Home” Somorika is known for quite some fetish reasons being that the community has a famous shrine which was established in 1955 to solve spiritual problems which made people from all over the world to visit the ancient home. This made it a terrible site to thread on but this is no scare to geologists whose main aim is to explore the geologic features and potential minerals the rocks of these regions carry without posing any harm to reinstated laws of the ancient land.
On our first attempt to get to Somorika, we failed because it was too far and the road up there was a fearful one too so we returned to our base and our lecturer, Dr Brume Overare queried us for not getting there so, we set out the next morning very early. We had to climb seven hills into the elevated land of Somorika. The community has series artworks which are not man-made, histories and mysteries. We got to a huge cave from which water flows out whose source we couldn’t fathom. The site of this cave was a beauty to behold.A NEW CONVICTION
My geologic experience in Edo state gave me a new conviction about the state. I realized that the Akoko-Edo region is a very good site for tourist attraction and also a host to major minerals which are of huge economic value to the environment, state and nation at large.
I always thought Edo State would possess a simple terrain as that of my State, Delta! This because I never travelled beyond Benin City each time, I visited Edo State and my first year of pulling through into the upper northern ends of the state left me surprised and till date the memories remain green in my head. It took us approximately seven (7) hours to getto our location, Igarra, a certain community in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo state. As we approached our destination, I began to see a whole new terrain that rather looked strange to my eyes. Massive mountainous rocks on either side of the road, the road keeps looking so high and elevated upfront just like in the movies. It was a wonderful side to behold.
Akoko-Edo, an ancient region located in the northern part of Edo state in the south of the Niger-Benue Confluence became our major area of exploration because it happened to contain most of the geologic rocks we needed to study. The entire terrain of the area is a beauty to behold. We were lodged in a hotel named “Rems Hotels” at the outskirt of Igarra. From there we set out into the rugged and mountainous terrain of Igarra with our geologic maps, completing every slated task as given by our instructors. For destinations that are farther from the hotel and not trekkable, our luxurious school bus (Marcopolo) often drops us off at strategic points from where we set into the rocks to map and explore. We often share ourselves in groups so as to work faster and efficiently depending on the given task. There are those to take the strike and dip of rock formations (examining the degree of relative positions of exposed igneous rocks in the surface with the use of a compass clinometer), Those to record the collected data, those to sketch and take pictures of rock formations, those to prepare the geologic map of the explored area and so on. These whole experiences can be very challenging and strenuous, especially when the scorching sun wouldn’t give you a break but that is not an issue for a geologist as we have been trained to endure and stay persistent till we achieve our aim.
The wonderful terrain of the Akoko-Edo region makes it and all its environs a wonderful site for tourist attraction. It contains massive rocks whose gigantic stance makes one wonder how high they can actually be in feet. There are those with tiny foot at the base with a great mass at the top like an opened umbrella standing on its handle. It makes you wonder how such a massive rock could be held standing by such a tiny tip. It is good to note that these rocks are a host to a good volume of valuable minerals. We found marble, shale, sandstone, gneiss, quartz and so many more.
One of the most thrilling places we visited was Somorika, the ancient home. A town located about five kilometres North-East of igarra in the Akoko-Edo Local Government area. As the name implies “The Ancient Home” Somorika is known for quite some fetish reasons being that the community has a famous shrine which was established in 1955 to solve spiritual problems which made people from all over the world to visit the ancient home. This made it a terrible site to thread on but this is no scare to geologists whose main aim is to explore the geologic features and potential minerals the rocks of these regions carry without posing any harm to reinstated laws of the ancient land.
On our first attempt to get to Somorika, we failed because it was too far and the road up there was a fearful one too so we returned to our base and our lecturer, Dr Brume Overare queried us for not getting there so, we set out the next morning very early. We had to climb seven hills into the elevated land of Somorika. The community has series artworks which are not man-made, histories and mysteries. We got to a huge cave from which water flows out whose source we couldn’t fathom. The site of this cave was a beauty to behold.
My geologic experience in Edo state gave me a new conviction about the state. I realized that the Akoko-Edo region is a very good site for tourist attraction and also a host to major minerals which are of huge economic value to the environment, state and nation at large.
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@frankness, what a wonderful record of activity you have here, you are a journalist. You are also good on adventure and discoveries.
Thank you very much Ma! @goodness4real
My department back then at college turned us perpetual track record keepers! It was worth it at the end! 😀
Congratulations man.more of this
Thank you very much Sir! @laderi
You guys really did a nice field trip.
Reading through your writeup brought imagination into my mind as if I was with you guys.
Your pictures really confirmed Akoko-Edo to be a tourist site.
Thank you very much @patience90
@fankness7 you really made great discoveries here, I feel like I'm there life, l love nature and going for sight seeing makes my day. Thank you for sharing this great discoveries they are 💓 warming. Congratulations on your vote.
That was a very wonderful experience! Seeing nature and experiencing the joys attached to exploration and traveling. And wonderful compilation of events! Am @mikemm would not hesitate to read up your post. Keep it up!