Agulu lake — A resort centre or just another space?

As Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) continued their tour of tourist attractions in Anambra State, we paid a visit to Agulu Lake.

Agulu Lake is one of the numerous sites of attraction, alongside:

• Ogbunike cave,
• River Niger,
• Ikenga Virgin forest,
• Omashi-iyi cave, Akpu,
• Odo River and Obutu Lake Omogho,
• Iyi-ocha Lake Amaokpala town,
• Ekwuluimili botanical and herbal garden,
• Nanka natural springs, amongst others.

They are all situated in different parts of Anambra State, one the major States in eastern Nigeria which has one of the biggest commercial center in the country.

Agulu Lake is very wide, it has a lengthy diameter and beautiful surface area.

It is located along Awka road, Umuowele village in Agulu town, Aniocha Local .Government Area of Anambra State.

As was the case when DDM visited Ogbunike Cave, there were no sign posts to direct us to the place.

The crew eventually reached Agulu lake, and was greeted by Mr. Onyekwere Ngene Atuegbu, who introduced himself as one of the two chosen chief priests in service of the deity Idemili.

Our General Manager, Mr. Tim Elombah, expressed his shock at the site of the lake.

He noted that being tagged a tourist centre, Agulu lake ideally, should appear better than the crew met it.

Mr. Atuegbu who sat inside an ‘obi’ or a small open chamber without doors and windows took time to give us the background of the lake.

He ushered DDM crew into the ‘obi’ but on the condition that we had to wash our hands in a certain calabash provided at the entrance of the ‘obi’.

He said ladies/women who were passing through their menses were not welcomed into the ‘obi’.

Women were also not allowed to wear trousers into the ‘obi’.

The crew therefore preferred to stay just outside the building while Atuegbu addressed it,

Beside the building was another building that housed bones of animals believed to have been offered to the deity, Idemili.

On the woods that held the ceiling of the ‘obi’ hung clothes of red and clothes of white colours.

He told us the story of how Agulu lake came to be.

He said Agulu had come in the form of an elderly man seeking for land to stay.

In the Igbo tradition, kola is offered to a guest, and in the course of welcoming the guest, water had to be brought for him to wash his hands.

To the surprise of all who welcomed this elderly man, he squeezed out water from his beards to wash his own hands.

It was from this moment, according to Onyekwere, that the hosts knew that their guest was no ordinary man.

They offered him land peacefully and in no distant time there was a great storm accompanied by rains, so that trees fell and the land which was given to this elderly man was occupied by water.

According to him, the people there began to worship the deity as Idemili, and then the name Agulu lake came into existence.

He told us that the gods choose who to serve him, so that he could only be replaced if he died or offended the gods.

Onyekwere added that there are two of them who work together to serve the god, idemili.

The lake according to Onyekwere was one that would give back evil to anyone who came to the lake with evil thoughts or plans.

He took us down the path that led to the lake and up to a point that we were asked to shut down our camera.

There we met persons who came for different purposes.

There, we met another man who seemed to be in charge of those who came to offer prayers and rituals at the lake.

During his own narration which was not really different from Atuegbu’s, he said the elderly man who turned into the lake appears to have extended to more areas.

This according to him, was as against the agreement the man reached while he came to the territory in the form of a man.

He said some people now abuse the sacredness of the idemili by doing things considered to be abominations.

In line with the story that the elderly man promised that he (as the lake) would not take any life, the man in charge of those coming to make sacrifices said people have drowned in the lake.

He said theirs was to tell people the dos and donts at the lake. But that it was left for people to follow it or not.

The man hoped that the state government would lift the face of the Agulu lake.

However, he hoped it would not take food off their tables, as fish was a good source of food for them, and it helped reduce their expenses on feeding.

He also pleaded that if the state government gets to give the lake a face lift, the lake should not become an exclusive preserve of the rich or the whites.

From that point, we went to a part of the lake where we could have video coverage of the area.

We were joined by another man who was introduced as a stakeholder in the service of the idemili.

He explained that the Agulu lake was one that allowed only canoes as means of transportation through it.

It, however, abhorred the use of flying boats.

He also added that the ‘eke’ or python was revered in the land as nobody was allowed to kill it. So also, is crocodile.

The only animal that could be killed was the tortoise, or as he referred to it, ‘mbe ani’, or land turtle.

Other animals he said could be found in the sea are the alligator and fishes.

Onyekwere then added that the Agulu lake connected into other villages through bridges, that were by the ends of the lake.

There was a region where one could walk into the lake and get drowned, unless the person is a good swimmer.

This was according to the man who joined Atuegbu in guiding us through the lake.

When asked how they would go about the regulations of not using flying boats on the lakes if the government decided to develop the place, using such machine, Onyekwere said by then it would be up to the government to do what pleased it.

He appealed to the government of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo to come to the lake and make it look more attractive.

They were happy to have us around and were amazed at how we used the drone to cover the areas around the lake and even take pictures.

We bade them farewell, even though a particular young man came out from nowhere to demand money from us.

At some point he even insisted we deleted everything we had recorded if we were not going to give him money.

But we calmly directed him to the team of Mr. Atuegbu and left.

But the team did not leave without touching down at Golden Tulip Hotels which was just by the other side of the lake.

The Hotel too did not look as excellent as we expected of a place that harboured such a renowned now infamous lake, the Agulu lake.

DDM continues to appeal to the State government led by Professor Chukwuma Soludo, to look into the tourism sector.

We appeal that it rebuild tourist attraction sites like the Agulu lake and the other tourist attraction centres which appear to be abandoned.

We still implore for sign-posts in major junctions, to be stationed, to help people making trips to these resort centres locate them easily.

We will continue to bring to the fore, tourist attraction sites in Anambra State, for the State government to look into.

So that in no distant time, Anambra state will savour the sweetness of the rich resources it possesses in her resort centres.

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