From Segun Ayinde, Abeokuta
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has sounded the alarm on the dangers of drilling boreholes in homes, warning that the consequences could be catastrophic.
The former president lamented that the incessant construction of boreholes, particularly in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital was as a result of the failure of subsequent administrations to sustain the Oyan Dam project embarked upon by his military administration in 1977.
Obasanjo sounded the warning when the management and staff of Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority, O-ORDA, led by the Managing Director, Adedeji Ashir, visited him on the occasion of the World Water Day at the weekend.
The former president in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, called for the elimination of wastages, stressing that it would be impossible to achieve food sufficiency and security without effective water management.
He noted that due to the failure of the dam project, residents of Abeokuta embraced the digging of boreholes to source for water, adding that this comes with repercussions that nobody may know how devastating it could be.
“We cannot de-emphasise the importance or usefulness of water to human life and this is why we say water has no enemy.
“This was why as military head of state in 1977, I realised that strategic water management must be part of our food sufficiency drive and security, and we created 11 River Basins including the Lake Chad.
“What are we trying to achieve, if we depend on rain fed agriculture, we will not get it right. Rain may come too early or too late, there may be drought or flood, all of which have telling effect on food production and security.
“So the first thing to do as part of the measures designed to achieve food security is effective management of water for agriculture. All of the river basins have facilities for irrigation to ensure all year round farming,” he hinted.
Obasanjo said Oyan Dam was actually created to generate power and water for residents of Ogun and Lagos States, but sadly, 48 years after, it has not lived up to the reasons why it was constructed.
He added that the dam has the capacity to generate nine megawatts of electricity, saying if it could be made to generate electricity, it would boost power supply to the people.
Earlier, Dr Ashiru said they 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 his leadership has 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 and control flooding among others are realised.
