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By Ayobami Ife, Abeokuta
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday said that relying on rain water to feed agriculture (farming) is not the right thing for the country, stressing that it is already having telling effects on food production and security.
Obasanjo who called for elimination of wastages of water resources, lamented the abysmal failure of Oyan Dam built by him in 1977 as the military Head of States to particularly help in addressing the challenges of water scarcity in Abeokuta.
He said that residents of Abeokuta have resorted to digging boreholes everywhere to source for water due to this pitiable failure of the Oyan Dam project, warning that this however comes with a repercussions that nobody for now may know how devastating it could be tomorrow.
The elder statesman spoke when he received the management and staff of Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Authority led by its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Adedeji Ashiru who paid him a courtesy call at his residence inside the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta
Speaking during the visit, Obasanjo said that “We can not de-emphasise the importance or usefulness of water to human life and this why we do say water has no enemy.
Obasanjo explained that Oyan Dam was actually designed to generate power and water for the residents of Ogun and Lagos State but sadly, 48 years after, it has not met the lofty objective it was constructed for.
He said, “This was why as Military Head of State in 1977 I realised that strategic water management must be part of our food sufficiency drives and food security and we created 11 River Basin including the Lake Chad.
“And what are we trying to achieve, if we have to only depend on rain fed agriculture, we shall definitely not get it right. Rain may come too early or too late, there may be droughts or flood all of which have telling effect on food production and security.
“So the first thing to do as part of measure designed to achieve food security is effective management of water for agriculture. All of the river basins therefore have facilities for irrigation to ensure all year round farming.”
The visit to Obasanjo by the management and staff of Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Authority was the climax of the programmes the agency lined up to mark this year World Water Day with the theme “Glacier Preservation”.
The management team and the staff led by the Managing Director had kicked off this year celebration with a sensitisation and road show from its head office along FUNAAB Road, Abeokuta.
The long motorcade waited at Camp, Gbonagun, Kuto where the MD urged Nigerians to stop wasting water but embrace the culture of using water responsibly to enhance sustainability.
The Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo who had earlier received the O-ORBDA team also commissioned a solar powered borehole built by the agency for the residents of the state.
The former President said 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
He added that “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.
“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 dont know but the geologist can do there job and tell us how fast that repercussions will come”.
Speaking earlier, the MD of O-ORBDA, Dr Ashiru said that they have decided to pay the former President a visit and salute him for his foresight which made him to create the 11 river basins 48 years ago.
He disclosed that the vision for effective water management and sustainability which Obasanjo has had since 1977 was just caught by the United Nations about 10 years ago while talking about Sustainable Development Goal six which bothers on sanitation and clean water.
Ashiru said that his leadership since assumptions have also been working round the clock to ensure that the vision of the founding fathers for the river basins which is to primarily boost agricultural production, controls flooding among others are realised
The OORBDA boss said that the vision of President Bola Tinubu is to also ensure that these river basins are put to good use such that they play very active roles in the administration’s food security drives.
He revealed that for last year the federal government supported the Ogun-Osun River Basin to embark on construction of seven dams across the Southwest and has also for the year 2025 made a budgetary allocation of N45bn for the agency to drive irrigation farming.
Ashiru also disclosed that Gov Dapo Abiodun has also met with the agency on Thursday pledging to take over the Oyan dam and utilise its nine Megawatts power plant for the good people of the state.
