In a corner of Imo, two angry rivers flow without ever coming together
pulse.ng Jul 27, 2017 1:00 PM
One half of the lake is a brownish colour; the other half flows clearly and almost appears green. They have never come together.
Across the world, from Stonehenge to the Great Sphinx of Giza, there are remarkable creations and naturally occurring phenomena that can only be described by the term we use to refer to them; wonders.

They are those structures that both impress and confound us, enough to command a kind of respect that almost feels like reverence and put them in a class of their own; a class that preserves them into classical antiquity.

In many ways, these wonders, especially those made by nature’s hand, are mysteries, more than anything else.

Like the Northern Lights or Tanzania’s 260 square km wide Ngorongoro crater, they are unexplained phenomena that arouse our curiosity, a desire to know more and questions that we try ever so hard to answer with science or religion.

One of such wonders is hiding in Nigeria, in Imo state, within the rainforests of the Niger-Delta.

In Oguta Lake, two angry rivers flow side-by-side without ever coming together.

Ogwuta Lake has an interesting story
From the surface, you can distinguish between the two colours of Uhamiri and Urashi, flowing separately, never coming together (Pulse36)
It has been this way for as long as the people remember.

Oguta Lake is a lean finger lake formed by deposits of clay, sand, and silt that dammed the lower Njaba river.

At 8.05km long and 2.41 km wide, it is the largest natural lake in Imo, and the entire South-East of Nigeria.

Water flows into it mainly from the Njaba river and to a lesser degree, the Uhamiri, Awbana and Urashi rivers.

It is two of these rivers that flow side-by-side, parallel to each other, without ever coming together.

You can see it almost immediately on the surface of the lake.

One flows in a shade of green, the other is brown.

As part of #Pulse36, their trip across Nigeria’s states, Fu’ad Lawal and Chris Chukwuedo visited Oguta Lake to see this sight for themselves and learn more about the stories behind the unique lake.

There, they met Ekene, a boatman, and tour-guide of sorts. He led the way.

According to Ekene, locals believe that the two rivers were male and female, man and wife. The green water is Uhamiri, believed to be the female. The brown water is the male, Urashi.

The stories claim that they had a quarrel, since then, they have flowed separately.

Nowadays, the two are deities; man and wife have become god and goddess.

There are two separate shrines where worshippers invoke and offer supplication to them; one on each side of the river.

The quarrel does not affect places of worship, and worshipers can call on either deity from any of the two shrines.

But those liberties do not extend to every area.

Yenagoa, the one road town
Ekene is a 26-year-old boatman and tour guide. He is also a father to two children. (Pulse36)
Even as it stays hidden in a corner of Imo, Oguta is a major attraction and every year, thousands come to visit, including some who do not understand the efficacy of its legends.

Sometimes, the couple is taken for granted and the inexplicable happens.

While they were on Oguta, ever the inquisitive one, Fu’ad asked Ekene some questions about the lake.

“So they’ve been separated all these years and can’t find a way to make up?”

“Yes,” Ekene said.

“They are petty,” he said jokingly.

“Why are they quarreling?”, he asked again.

Next thing he knew, Ekene was looking right into the water, saying in Igbo how the lake should forgive him because he’s just a boatman trying to make a living, not one who would say things he knows nothing about.

Fu’ad shut up after that.

Ekene told Fu’ad of a time not too long ago when some students came to the lake to see its wonders.

One of the students, after taking in its size, stood up and proclaimed that the lake was small, small enough for him to swim.

He asked the boatman to turn around so he could jump in the lake for a swim. As the guide maneuvered, he fell out of the boat and into the lake. His body was never found.

Stories like these may scare visitors and for good reason. It never hurts to respect local beliefs and traditions.

The people of Oguta and the communities that surround it, know the lake as a source of transport, food, and sustenance. For them, the natural wonder is an integral part of their lives.

Ogwuta Lake has an interesting story
On the banks of Oguta, you will find anything from traders to fishermen to tour guides ready to give you a spin around the lake. (Pulse36)
As Fu’ad put it, for them, it is a means to live.

On any random visit, you are likely to find women on the bank doing laundry or selling anything from souvenirs to dried fish.

On one side, you will likely find a boat man waiting for visitors and fisherman getting their nets ready to be cast into the lake’s depths.

At any point, there are people being ferried to the other side, carrying everything from handbags to farm produce.

Ogwuta Lake is also home to some relics of more recent times, particularly the 70s when the area was one of the many theaters in the Nigerian civil war.

Not far from the lake, there is what appears to be an abandoned 18-hole golf course.

But move closer to the course and you will see it, right there in the bushes; a bunker used by Biafran forces during the civil war.

The mouth of the bunker has been blocked off because kidnappers, in the past, used the bunker to hide their victims from prying eyes.

Ogwuta Lake has an interesting story
Apart from this entrance, the bunker has another that is said to be as wide as a road. It is a fair distance away. (Pulse36)
The lake was also used as a base by the Nigerian Navy during the war. There are reports that remnants of old Biafran war boats can be found in various areas of the lake.

It is things like this that make Oguta lake unique.

Now, as a new generation lives around the lake, the mystery of the two rivers, its history as an important part of the Biafran war and many unanswered questions about its past remain.

They are why Oguta Lake and its immediate environment deserve a facelift if for no reason, to preserve one of the many wonders that Nigeria is so blessed with.

Until that happens, Urashi and Uhamiri continue to flow in the same lake, side by side, without ever coming together.



http://www.pulse.ng/food_drinks_travel/oguta-lake-in-a-corner-of-imo-two-angry-rivers-flow-without-ever-coming-together-id7060869.html

ok

Interesting

Interesting...

lalasticlala move this thread to front page, please!

back then folks use to say that the thing is as a result of two mami wata quarelling.

but then wen I left myth and read far and wide... I discovered that both water are different in density as a result of Salt concentration...
since both are of different density, speed, heat, volume, they don't mix, they move almost parallel to each other.

Nah just una two ooo, where the river picture?

ok

Story.

Show me videos and pictures

story

No good pictures to back this up? is this how you market your business?

Instead of this one to show video and pictures of the two angry rivers , na canal and pictures of himself he carry full everywhere with plenty epistle.

Crap post

wow!

like this?

Wonders of creation... Great God

na who river EPP

Beautiful. God must be a woman. Full of wonders

Lack of adequate pictorial evidence
I will pass

The hate is real

Guess ya'll now understand why they are called children of hate.. Even the red soil are at war with one another. na joke o

if I woozo you now you go say I too dey vex.

It's so so true, I've been there. The second picture says it all

*Nearly strangles pulseng* After this interesting piece, no accompanying shot to show the green and brown river running side by side?

Poor documentation.. There ought to be more verifiable pictures than just words.

you wrote a whole story making me scroll down for 30 minutes and added just two pic for the whole wahala wait! are you OK ?? adonbilivit ...

ok

End time River

God is great

doesn't sound strange ...
if I'm not mistaken, it should be fresh and salt water, they don't mix up.
I've seen a lot of it here in Bayelsa.
and its not something some of u should argue about (for those people that don't travel)

if u pour both water in a bowl or bucket, they'll surely mix because the quantity is low and theirs no force in it. but when the quantity is very high like what you've seen, it differences pops up like Northern/Southern zootopia. (Na joke o) :-)

its fresh and saltwater coming together, it doesn't mix.was there in my school days and was dumbfounded, our guide refused to crossover it saying he would die(oguta belief ),did I care no,because I'm aquaphobic and already wanted out of the water.

Are these all the pix u can show?

Omabala river and Otuocha in Aguleri.

OMG Childhood memories!!

I can see clearly.... it's as if it's happening again...1991 July. Oh I remember that day.

U are right, i went dae in 2008 August when i visited my mum at Federal medical center Oguta. my cousin brother took me dae