TENKA TELLS A STORY One day, Tenka was feeling very expansive, so he called all the children in the

village together. They always liked Tenka when he was in such a mood because he always had wonderful stories to tell them. So they settled down under the Baobab tree and got ready for a treat. Tenka cleared his throat and began: Children, today I shall tell you the story of how the city of Kumbi Saleh became a ghost city. Kumbi Saleh was a blessed city, its forests were huge, its earth fertile. But its King was evil and greedy. He recklessly cut down the trees in the sacred forest for sale. He forcefully took the farmlands of the citizens for himself. The people were left destitute and starving. Now, Ajanaku the Elephant, as one of the giants of the forest was a hereditary chief but he was a good chief and was not part of the corruption. In vain he tried to tell his fellow chiefs and the king to stop cutting the trees and to use the fortunes they made from the sale to benefit the citizens. But they did not listen. They hated him very much. Eventually, he resigned from the government and went on exile in disgust. But even in exile, the king and the chiefs did not like the fact that he was still criticizing them. They wanted to get rid of him once and for all. Tenka paused for effect before he continued his story: As long as Ajanaku is still alive, he will keep instigating the people against us. We have to get rid of him totally said the greedy chiefs to the King. And so they planned to get rid of him. They came up with a plan. The king sent the chiefs to Ajanaku. Ajanaku, the great and wise Elephant, we are really sorry you are in exile. We have realized the error of our ways and wish to change. We need you wise guidance to teach us what to do. Please come back to Kumbi Saleh. I cant ever come back as long as Mobutu is on the throne. He will lead you to your deaths yet. Ajanaku replied. Ah, that evil King Mobutu, we have gotten rid of him. Now we want you to come home and rule us. We want you to be our king and lead us to a better life. Now Ajanaku loved his city and he had missed it so much. He thought that the chiefs had truly changed and he could change the fortunes of his people and make them prosperous again. So he agreed to follow the chiefs. To usher him into the city and to make sure he did not change his mind along the way, they sang all the way back. While the singers were singing Ajanaku's praises, the drummer, Ayangbolu was warning him in code with the talking drum. But Ajanaku had been away for tto long. In that time, he had forgotten the secret language of the drum. He had forgotten the ways of his forefathers, hence he heard the drumming but he was not able to decode the warning. Ayangbolu the drummer warned him: Erin karele o, Wa joba Erin karele o, Wa joba Iwoyi Ola re, agbada ami a she talo erin wewe, erin wewe erin wewe, erin wewe erin wewe, erin wewe

Erin karele o, Wa joba

erin wewe, erin wewe

(Dear Elephant, come home and reign; Dear Elephant, come home and be King; By this time tomorrow, the pots will be sizzling with the sound of hot oil frying; Dear Elephant come home and be King). As they led him into the town, the citizens came out. They were happy that Ajanaku was coming back. So they joined in song and danced all the way to the village square giving Ajanaku no time to suspect any foul play. But the King had ordered his slaves to dig a huge hole in the village square and as Ajanaku danced towards the square, he fell into the huge hole. With a loud roar, he crashed down to his death. Mobutu and his chiefs were very happy that Ajanaku was finally dead. But they forgot that the elephant is too huge to be buried. They covered up the hole and went back to their homes. But justice was not to be denied. As Ajanaku rotted in his shallow grave, the stench of his rotting body rose and spread round the city, into every home, like a strange disease: poisoning the very land of the village. The madness started first in the household of the King. All his children lost their minds. So did all the children of all the chiefs. Eventually King Mobutu, his chiefs and all the members of their household went mad and were chased out of Kumbi Saleh into the evil forest. In a short while, the strange disease had affected half of the village. The other half, in fear for their minds, fled the city and left it desolate. And so the once famous city was taken over by the forest, its memory gone forever and not a sign left to indicate where it once stood. Tenka paused at this juncture, staring at the wide eyed children of the village. And this is the end of the story, he said. The sun has gone to bed children and so must we. Goodnight children and remember, always rule with justice and do not join hands with others to commit evil. Interesting Titbit: Kumbi Saleh was the ancient capital of the Ghana Empire. The city was in what is now modern day southern Mauritania. Eni b'a wo asho ala, kii ba won n'oja elepo. B md b b igi n igbo gb lagb a m a wo ibi t y w s.

If a youth is felling a tree, an elder will be considering where it will fall. (Unlike the youth, the elder is mindful of consequences.) Bnnbonno is another name for the tree ay nr ,whose leaves droop when night falls. A k fi ara ni e o gun alok nn . One does not use oneself as an ingredient in a medicine requiring that the ingredients be pulverized. A k n gb nl w gb rde. One does not have a thousand cowries (or six pence) at home and go chasing abroad for a thousand cowries.

(Only the promise of a greater fortune should tempt one to neglect what one already has.) A bi omo ni Owu, e ni ako ni abi abo, ewo ni omo ninu omo Owu. Literally, this would interprete thus: we gave birth to a new child in Owu, you were asking if it is a male or female, which one is valuable/reliable/useful among Owu children? One of the species of African elephant, the bush elephant, is the largest living terrestrial animal, while the forest elephant is the third largest. Their thickset bodies rest on stocky legs, and they have concave backs.[3] Their large ears enable heat loss.[4] The upper lip and nose form a trunk. The trunk acts as a fifth limb, a sound amplifier and an important method of touch. African elephants' trunks end in two opposing lips. Some of the calls produced by elephants may be as powerful as 112 decibels (dB) recorded at 1 meter from the source. Elephants produce a broad range of sounds from very low frequency rumbles to higher frequency snorts, barks, roars, cries and other idiosyncratic calls. Under such conditions it is possible for an elephant to have a calling range of 300 km2 - an area almost the size of the entire Amboseli National Park! In other words an elephant may be able to detect the calls of another elephant almost 10 km away. During the day, without the help of an inversion and with factors such as heavy sun and wind often coming into play, calling area size is drastically reduced, ranging from a couple dozen to 150 square km. Not only are the elephants' low frequency rumbles well suited for long distance communication, but being sounds with a rich harmonic structure they also allow a listening elephants to calculate the distance of the calling elephant. Under such conditions it is possible for an elephant to have a calling range of 300 km2 - an area almost the size of the entire Amboseli National Park! In other words an elephant may be able to detect the calls of another elephant almost 10 km away. During the day, without the help of an inversion and with factors such as heavy sun and wind often coming into play, calling area size is drastically reduced, ranging from a couple dozen to 150 square km. Not only are the elephants' low frequency rumbles well suited for long distance communication, but being sounds with a rich harmonic structure they also allow a listening elephants to calculate the distance of the calling elephant.

Olumo Rock is an imposing rock which located between Ikija and Itoku quarters of Abeokuta. The official and main entrance to Olumo Rock Tourist Complex is situated in Ikija. Mokola is at the North side of the West and Itoko at the East. Olumo Rock geographically co ordinates latitude80 38 (8.63330) North while the longitude is 40 18 (4.3s) East. The highest point on Olumo Rock is about 137metres above sea level. Olumo Rock is one of the rock, formation found around Abeokuta but it is the largest. It is an irregular formation of igneous rock which makes it easy for climbing. On the peak of Olumo Rock is a cemented spot with A.T.3 written on it.

In Olumo Rock there are three main caves. The first cave in olumo rock is twenty feet long and twenty five feet wide. Inside this cave there are slabs which were used as seats by ancient Dwellers. It is also possible that this cave was used as a conference hall by them. The second Cave is about twenty meters long seventeen meters wide. From all indication this could have been a dwelling place for earlier settlers. It is partitioned into five rooms possibly used as sitting room kitchen, and stores. In the kitchens there are dug holes grinding points for pepper, tomatoes and other ingredients including their charms. Added to it is a long corridor. The third cave which is on the eastern side of Olumo Rock is partitioned with mud walls into two chambers main chambers and minor chambers. Devotees of Orisa Igun occupy these chambers. On Olumo Rock there seven are shrines for seven deities which are worshipped on Olumo Rock. These deities are Olumo, Igun, Obaluaye, Ogun, Obatala, Esu, and Sango other important features of Olumo Rock are some sacred and ordinary trees. HOW OLUMO ROCK GOT ITS NAME Olumo Rock was simply referred to as Okuta before the Egbas left Igbo Egba (Egba Forest) and settled around the rock. During that period wild animals were inhabiting the caves under the rock and surrounding forest. Later, hunters from Ibara Orile across Ogun River, but not far from the rock as Orile Egba started to hunt these animals for food but none of them settled under the caves beneath the rock, nor settled in the nearby forest. Two of such hunters were Aro-bi ologbo-egan and Ganun-Ganun. This Okuta-rock- also served as the hiding place for some groups of robbers who occupied the caves underneath the rock and used the top of the rock as a vantage position to monitor the movements of their would be victims around the rock and in the forest. As an aftermath of Owu war in 1821 many Egba townships were deserted, some went back under the control of the Oloyo while others were sacked by the hostile army of Maye. During this period, Idowu Liperu an Ogboni Chief from Itoko escaped to his farm at Oke-Lantoro. For fear of being attacked and captured at Oke-Lantoro he fled to Orile Ibara across Ogun River. However, when there was no more trouble he left Orile Ibara to come and settle behind the rock now called Olumo rock. He was assisted by Lafa, the King of Ibara to build the first house near the rock. Three hunters who were brothers, Jibulu, Oso, and Olu-nle later came to occupy the caves under the rock as their permanent abode. They were fond of referring to where they live as AbeOkuta Under the rock. Later, an Itoko farmer and hunter, Obe Adagba Malese or Adagba Abuka also came to settle down alongside Liperu and the three hunters. He was more popular than the others, that the place where they resided was known far and wide as Oko Adagba (Adagbas village or Adagba Farmstead). In 1830, when Sodeke led the Egbas to settle at the base of the rock where the three hunters were living, the place was popularly referred to as Oko Adagba (Adagbas village or Adagba Farmstead). They were all marveled at the magnitude of the rock since they saw nothing like it in Egba forest. Consequently, they unanimously concluded that the rock was built by the Lord OLUMO. However, another tradition says they called the rock Olumo because they believed that with their settling down under the rock, God has put an end to their travails. In view of this, they began to say

OLUWAFIMO, God has put an end to our wandering. Since that period, a rock which was formerly referred to as Okuta became known far and wide as Olumo Rock. To the Egbas therefore, Olumo Rock stands not only as a monument of faith in unity but also a source of national strength and unfailing protection and sustenance from the Supreme Being who led them safely to Abeokuta.

DESCRIPTION OF OLUMO ROCK Olumo rock is an imposing rock which is located between Ikija and Itoko quarters of Abeokuta. The official and main entrance to Olumo Rock Tourist Complex is located in Ikija while the back of the rock, is situated in Itoko. Mokola is at the North side of the rock, Sodeke and Ijemo at the South, Ikija at the West and Itoko at the East. Olumo rock geographically co-ordinates latitude 80 38 (8.63330) North while the longitude is 40 18 (4.30) East. The highest point on Olumo Rock is about 137metres above sea level. Olumo rock is one of the rocky formations found around Abeokuta but it is the largest. It is an irregular formation of igneous rock which makes it easy for climbing. On the peak of Olumo rock is a cemented spot with A.T.3 written on it. In Olumo rock there are three main caves. The first cave in Olumo rock is twenty feet long and twenty-five feet wide. Inside this cave there are slabs which were used as seats by ancient dwellers. It is also possible that this cave was used as a conference hall by them. The second cave is about twenty metres long and seventeen metres wide. From all indication this could have been a dweller for earlier settlers. It is partitioned into five rooms possibly used as sitting room, kitchen, and stores. In the kitchens there are dug holes for grinding grains, pepper, tomatoes and other ingredients including their charms. Added to it is a long corridor.