By; SAMSON YAKI.
The recent earth tremor that hit the land of Jaba has in no small measure called for national and global attention. The incident that started on Sunday the 11th of September, 2016, coincidentally marked the 15th anniversary of attack on the twin tower in the USA.
The shake came strange to the people of Jaba, as such had never happened before. Though geological explanations hold that the tremor could be as a result of the earth rotation and revolution movement, that always result to the shaking of the earth core which is liquid in nature.
The movement, according to geography, often associated with two forms of forces that are exerted on the earth which are tensional and compressional forces. The former leads to the tearing while the later leads to the folding of the earth. Similarly, the tensional combined with the boiling of the earth core could lead to the formation of cracks that may force out some molten magma as volcanoes. Thus the trembling of the earth in Kwoi could have been thought to have been such volcanic processes.
In the classifications of volcanicity, we have active and dormant volcano. The active occurs frequently while the dormant rarely occurs. The Kwoi purported ‘volcano’ may fall in the category of the former since there’s no clear time in the past that the land had had any volcanic eruption before.
Panic, terror, tension had gripped the land since Sunday as the ancient city of historical antecedents and fossils site has been thrown into chaotic situation following that strange noise in the earth interior of the land.
Preceding the event is what is left out. It is important to know that Jaba land is well known for its’ cultural practices that has been their heritage since prehistoric existence. And it will surprise the world that such practices are still strong despite the coming of Christianity in 1910. Even the famous NOK Terracotta is fallout of the people’s cultural heritage. Several showcase of Nok terracotta are still real up to date and no one dares interfere with their existence, not even the Kpop Ham himself. And it was the attempt at interfering with this great traditional heritage that struck the land on the fifteenth anniversary of September 11 attack on the world Trade Center in 2001.
What happened on the Saturday preceding the event was the cutting or trimming of one ancient trees at Angwan Duhu, inside Kwoi town-a tree which dates back to generation and had never been touched by any human since its existence. The process of trimming the tree was scary. It took six tree cutting machines to succeed and up to now the trimmed leaves are still fresh. In fact the gods are said to have only allowed the operators to go free for reasons best known to them.
The Paramount Ruler had earlier advised against cutting down the tree but all fell on deaf ears. The Ruler then washed off his hands that he has nothing to do about that since he has become a Christian.
As the defiant hands insisted on trimming the tree, the aftermath then ensued. For about three days, the people have known no peace. Houses are cracked, household property are overturned. Though no life is so far lost.
Therefoere, to combat the causes and the effect of the tremor, the tradition should not be neglected. Scientific analysis is welcome though but the people themselves should be sought and given opportunity to proffer their own solutions.
