Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has raised an alarm against water borehole drillings at homes, particularly in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital, declaring that repercussions of such action could be devastating.
Obasanjo warns against borehole drilling
He lamented that the incessant construction of boreholes, was as a result of failure of subsequent administrations to sustain the Oyan Dam project embarked on by his military administration in 1977.
As reported by Channels TV, Obasanjo gave this warning when management and staff of the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority led by the Managing Director, Adedeji Ashiru, visited him on the occasion of the World Water Day at the weekend.
The former president called for elimination of wastages of water resources, stressing that it would be impossible to achieve food sufficiency and security without effective water management.
He hinted that due to the failure of the dam project, the residents of Abeokuta embraced digging of boreholes everywhere to source for water, adding that this however comes with a repercussion that nobody for now may know how devastating it could be.
“We cannot de-emphasise the importance or usefulness of water to human life and this why we do say water has no enemy,” Obasanjo said.
Obasanjo: Failure of Oyan Dam behind Ogun water crisis
Obasanjo said that the Oyan Dam was actually created to generate power and water for the residents of Ogun and Lagos State, but sadly, 48 years after it has not lived up to the reasons why it was constructed.
The former President noted that the dam is said to have the capacity to generate 9 Megawatts, saying that if this dam could be made to generate such megawatts of electricity, it would have a profound impact in boosting power supply to the people and help reduce the challenge of inadequate power supply in the country.
“Oyan Dam was built to supply water for Abeokuta and Lagos, but it has been neglected and ignored just like the turbine for the power supply,” he noted.
“The water supply is not there for Abeokuta, and we have rather continued to dig holes everywhere causing the water level to go down and down. That will have repercussions in the future, how long we shall have it I don’t know, but the geologist can do their job and tell us how fast that repercussions will come.”
Obasanjo tags declares Buhari’s govt “worst in corruption”
In another development, previously reported that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo described Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as the worst in Nigeria’s democratic history.
Obasanjo made this declaration as he criticised the N15.6 trillion Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project and the N21 billion vice president’s residence.
The federal government, through the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, and a presidential aide, described Obasanjo’s claims as baseless.
