Obasanjo warns against borehole drilling, Oyan Dam neglect

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has raised the alarm over indiscriminate water borehole drillings in homes, declaring that repercussions of such could be devastating.

He lamented that the incessant construction of boreholes, particularly in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, was a result of the failure of subsequent administrations to sustain the Oyan Dam project built by his military administration in 1977.

The former President, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, on Sunday, gave the warning when the management and staff of the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority, led by the Managing Director, Dr Adedeji Ashiru, visited him.

The visit was to mark the occasion of the World Water Day.

Obasanjo called for the elimination of waste 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 Oyan Dam project, residents of Abeokuta had resorted to drilling boreholes everywhere to source water.

However, he warned that the development comes with repercussions, the extent of which remains uncertain.