Segun Ayinde, Abeokuta
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has raised concerns over the indiscriminate drilling of boreholes, warning of potentially devastating consequences for water resources and environmental sustainability.
Obasanjo attributed the rampant borehole construction in Abeokuta, Ogun State, to successive governments’ failure to sustain the Oyan Dam project, which his military administration initiated in 1977.
In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo sounded the alarm while receiving the management and staff of the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority (O-ORBDA), led by its Managing Director, Engr. Dr. Adedeji Ashiru, during their visit to mark World Water Day.
He stressed the urgent need to eliminate water resource wastage, emphasizing that achieving food security would be impossible without effective water management.
The former president lamented that, due to the neglect of the Oyan Dam project, Abeokuta residents have resorted to drilling boreholes indiscriminately, a practice he warned could have severe, unforeseen repercussions.
“We cannot overemphasize the importance of water to human life, which is why we say water has no enemy,” Obasanjo said.
“As Military Head of State in 1977, I recognized that strategic water management must be central to our food security agenda, which led to the creation of 11 River Basin Authorities, including Lake Chad.”
“If we rely solely on rain-fed agriculture, we will never get it right. Rain may come too early or too late, leading to droughts or floods, all of which severely impact food production and security,” he explained.
Obasanjo emphasized that effective water management for agriculture was the first step toward food security. He noted that all river basins were equipped for irrigation to enable year-round farming.
Highlighting the importance of Oyan Dam, Obasanjo revealed that the project was designed to generate power and provide water for Ogun and Lagos states. However, nearly five decades later, it has failed to fulfill its purpose.
“The dam was built to supply water to Abeokuta and Lagos, but it has been neglected and ignored, just like the turbine meant for power generation,” he stated.
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He pointed out that the dam has the potential to generate 9 megawatts of electricity, which could significantly boost power supply and address the country’s energy challenges.
“The water supply is not there for Abeokuta, and instead, we keep digging boreholes everywhere. This practice is causing groundwater levels to drop dangerously. The repercussions are inevitable; we just don’t know when they will fully manifest. Geologists need to study this and tell us how soon we will face the consequences,” Obasanjo warned.
Earlier, O-ORBDA Managing Director, Dr. Adedeji Ashiru, commended Obasanjo for his foresight in creating Nigeria’s river basins 48 years ago.
He noted that the vision for sustainable water management, which Obasanjo championed in 1977, was only formally embraced by the United Nations about a decade ago through Sustainable Development Goal 6, which focuses on clean water and sanitation.
Ashiru stated that his administration has been working tirelessly to ensure that the river basins fulfill their primary roles of boosting agricultural production, controlling flooding, and enhancing water resource management.
He also highlighted President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to revitalizing the river basins to support his administration’s food security agenda.
“In 2024, the federal government supported the Ogun-Osun River Basin with funding to construct seven dams across the Southwest. For 2025, a budgetary allocation of ₦45 billion has been approved to enhance irrigation farming,” Ashiru revealed.
With water security becoming a pressing issue, Obasanjo’s warning serves as a call to action for policymakers to prioritize sustainable water management and prevent the long-term environmental damage that unchecked borehole drilling could cause.