Have you seen a black river before?
If no then let take a trip to cross River State Nigeria in odupkani local government.
One fateful afternoon i was traveling to akwaibom state from Calabar.
I will soon tell the story the journey but in this article i am focusing on the black river i saw while on the journey.
Take a look at the river and tell me what you think could be the reason why the water is this dark.
Like i said earlier I was traveling from Calabar cross River State to Uyo in akwaibom state both are staes in the southern part of the country Nigeria, like the goes cross River State meaning you will cross many rivers before you can get there.
If you are traveling from akwaibom to cross River State you have three major transportation method
Either you travel by air, by land or by water,
For instance if you want to travel from Oron in akwaibom state to Calabar the capital city of cross River State, the shortest possible way to connect the two city is by water, from Oron to Calabar by water is about 50 mins to one hour but if you choose to travel by air from Oron it may be lesser but before you could get to the airport and book and fly might be more. But if you choose road then you will spend much more time, depending on the season dry season it takes you 3 to 4 hours but raining season it can take you way above 5 hours, you may ask why.
Normally the journey between the two state a very short one but the condition of the road is the reason for the delay. The distance between uyo to Calabar is about 120km or less which on a normal speed of 80km per hour you will get there 1 hour 20 minutes. But the road condition is another factor to consider before you travel on Calabar Itu road as it is popularly known.
Back to the black river.
I could have seen this river if not that i make this journey through one of the unusual way.
Why did i say unusual way? Due to the road conditions most commercial buses choose to boycott the road or choose to go on a high price, because there are more quarrying company in that location so the road is characterized with the presence of heavy duty trucks, and there are oil depot in Calabar so truck for oil are seen too
My journey to the black River
On the 2nd day of January 2025, due to scarcity of buses travelling to Uyo from Calabar, i had no option than to enter truck from odokpani junction a popular junction in Cross River State to Uyo and i was charged 2000 naira. While other buses are charging 7000 naira or more. Here is me in and out side the truck.
So it the tradition of the trucks with load to stop at the stream to pour water on the tires, so on that it was business as usual they stopped and we the passengers alighted to stretch of legs and feet.
So i decided to walk close to the water and i was surprised when I first noticed the colour of the water i was afraid to go further close to the water till the driver and his assistant entered the water.
I was made to understand that the water is the major source of water for the village People there. As we are talking i was an old man in his late 60s came to take his bath in the river.
They practically do many things in the water, bath drink and even use it for cooking.
the reason behind the colour.
Well I am not a scientist so I may not know the reason but I think this colouration of the water could be aa a reason of oil spillage.
This is to tell you what most people go through here in the south.
The next time I will travel here i will love to have a taste of you water.
The pictures were taken with my android phone.