The famous landmark called Zuma Rock is geographically located in Suleja Local Government Area of Niger State, along Abuja-Kaduna highway – just about 40 kilometres away from Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital. It is thus often referred to as the gateway to Abuja from the northern part of the country. It is described as “a large monolith, an igneous intrusion composed of gabbro and granodiorite” (Gimalo, 2022: para.1). It is around 3.1 km in circumference and rises approximately 980 feet (300 metres) above its surroundings, more than four times as high as the tallest building in Nigeria (NECOM House) and taller than Nigeria’s popular Aso and Olumo rocks put together (Adams, 2018). It is thus twice as high as the famous Uluru Rock in Australia – believed by many to be the largest rock in the world (Lew, 2021; Scribner, 2021; Touropia, 2022). In the words of Opaluwa (2016), the rock stands:
tall and majestic, bestowing on the landscape the gift of its presence.. Majestic in its appearance, the other mountains in and around Abuja and Niger State stay a respectable distance from it; actually paying it a kind of obeisance for its royal presence in the area (para.2).
Some other features that make the Zuma rock quite exceptional include the natural contours in one of its sides, its colour and its shape. As Fig. 2 below shows, the natural contours engraved the image of a human face with a mouth, eyes and nose, while its colour and shape gives it the resemblance of a giant elephant squalling its head in-between its front legs.
There is no precise account pertaining to the discovery of the rock, but it is said to have been first located in a thick forest by Koro people in the 15th century upon the instruction of their soothsayer (Adams, 2018). The etymology of the word 'Zuma' is also linked to the Koro language. According to an elder statesman who is believed to have known much about the history of the rock in relation to the Koro people:
Initially, in the Koro language it was called 'Ezumwa ba' that is, 'Place of catching Guinea-Fowls'. That is how the rock got its name originally as 'Zumwa' when it became shortened... When the Hausa people started coming around, they could not pronounce 'Zumwa' so they just say 'Zuma'. The Europeans too, when they came, they could not also call it rightly as 'Zumwa', they also used the Hausa pronunciation, 'Zuma'.
Expectedly, the Niger State Government has since designated the Zuma Rock as one of its special sites slated for development into a world class tourist centre (Isa, 2016). One of the proposed projects was to build a five star hotel near the rock. The hotel was built in 1981 (it still stands today), but for reasons yet to be revealed, it was abandoned before it commenced operation (Daily Trust, 2018). The next notable attention the Zuma Rock would get from the government came more than 20 years later when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) depicted the rock in the newly introduced 100 Naira note. This development did not only show that the Zuma Rock is of national significance but also corrected the long mistaken belief that it was within the jurisdiction of the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja). As the inscription ''Zuma Rock, FCT Abuja'' appeared right under the depiction of the rock in the N100 note, protest from Niger state government led to the erasure of the phrase 'FCT Abuja'.
In a swift reaction geared towards taking absolute control of the area, the Niger state government approved and begun the construction of a housing unit to be known as Zuma Rock Estate. Though the first unit was built up to roofing level, the project, like the Zuma rock Hotel, was abandoned. Eight years later, in what all and sundry thought was a serious quest to develop tourism in Niger State, the new Governor of the State signed a $700 million Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Canadian tourism development company to build an international resort in the vicinity of the rock which, upon completion would attract no fewer than 25,000 foreign and local tourists monthly. Construction work on the first phase of the project was scheduled to commence within 35 days of the signing of the MoU while the other two phases, consisting of a five-star hotel, a magnificent water fall that rolls from the top of the rock down to the lake few metres away from its foot, a walkway to the top of the rock, a cable car transport system through which tourists would ascend the rock to view Abuja and its environs were to be completed within 10 years (Alofetekun, 2008). That came in the wake of an event in which the governor and a team of tourism experts conquered the Rock and placed a plaque on its peak. That was to be the end of the whole project too as nothing was heard of it again till the end of the administration in 2015.
Another seemingly serious attempt to develop the Zuma Rock was made in 2016 when the new governor of the State revoked 248 hectares of land around the rock (Asishana, 2016). The State Commissioner for Lands and Housing was quoted as saying: “The Governor’s action was based on the strategic location of the area, the need to preserve the natural endowment for collective benefits and above all in the overriding public interest” (Ibrahim, 2016 para.6). The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor added that there was a blueprint on tourism development to give tourism in the state a face- lift with the Zuma Rock and Gurara waterfalls as top priorities (Isa, 2016). But like the others before it, the idea ended on paper.
The repeated inability of the different administrations to transform their respective blueprints into concrete project helped to reinforce multiple tales of spirits dwelling in the rock. The locals believe it was the powers of the spirits that first doomed the builders of the Zuma Rock Hotel and then continue to frustrate any effort of the government to erect any meaningful structure there (Mosadomi, 2017). Many other unusual occurrences around the Zuma Rock had always been explained in the light of superstitious theories. For example, on the 25th of November 2015, series of explosive thunderous sounds emanated from the rock which, according to government officials was a result of some geographical reactions within the rock. But the residents of the area believed it was a mystery. The Village Head of Chachi (and traditional custodian of the Zuma Rock) juxtaposed the beliefs of his subjects. He was quoted as saying,
The Rock loathes impurities of any form, and these days every spiritually impure person, girls and boys gallivant in its vicinity and provoke it...In the past, sacrifices of a black cow or black he-goat were made to the rock yearly to appease it, especially when our ancestors were praying for rain. It is probably angry because it feels cheated..(Omokhunu, 2015: paras. 5–6).
Other significant occurrences around the rock scientifically explained by the government but mystically explained by the locals include a triangular peel that occurred on the rock– just beside the natural contours which appears like a human face – sometimes in 2016, and a fire outbreak on top of the rock which occurred on May 23rd 2017 (Nnabuife, 2017).