Oyo at 50: Seyi Makinde and the Death of Oyo State Water Corporation (Part 1) – Afeez Bello Mabinuori

The unquestionable fact of life is a healthy idiom which says, “water is life”. Take it or leave it, the idioms remain an essential fact of life not only for mankind but also for other living things, which non-living things do not take exception to.

Established in 1977, the Water Corporation of Oyo State, formerly known as the Western Nigeria Water Corporation, is responsible for potable water supply in the state, and it has areas of generation such as the Asejire and Eleyele Water Dams. Instead, it is demanding urgent attention 49 years after its establishment.

It is pertinent to note that former Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, ensured an adequate water supply, an essential part of his policy across the region. Colonel Jemibewon and other military governors that have served in the state did not abandon the provision of potable water for the people of the Pace Setter State. Late Sage, Chief Bola Ige, Chief Omolola Olunloyo, and Kolapo Ishola have done wonderfully well in providing potable water for the residents of the state, but the pity of it is that the governor that used Omi Tuntun (fresh water) as his campaign slogan in 2015 is the one that is highly incapacitated to provide potable water for a single household in the state since his emergence. Instead, he was encouraging the construction of borehole water across the state, which has a far-reaching consequence on structures, the health of the people, and the environment in general. 

Out of governors that have emerged in Oyo State since the emergence of the 4th Republic, the current administration under Makinde is the worst of them all. Former Governors Lam Adeshina, Rashidi Ladoja, and Alao Akala did all their best to ensure people were having running water in their households. Governor Isiaq Ajimobi embarked on a laudable water project across the state to strengthen the distribution of potable water to all households in the state. In fact, the project was designed to ensure that households that do not have tap water in their compound can tap from the newly installed pipes across all areas in the state, with the Mokola Area as a case study.

The implications of encouraging borehole drilling by the Makinde administration include, but are not limited to, soil collapse and structural damage to nearby buildings, aquifer depletion, etc.

What the Makinde government failed to realise is that water that is not treated may contain bacteria, viruses, and heavy metals that are harmful to human health; this can lead to waterborne diseases like cholera, typhoid, and so on. 

It is worthy of note that massive drilling of boreholes across the state might have caused ground subsidence and sinkholes, which is very dangerous to environmental habitats of the state.

When the deceptive Omi Tuntun slogan was renting the air in the 2015 electioneering campaign, people thought Seyi Makinde would increase water efficiency from where his successor, Ajimobi, left it, but the reverse is the case since Omi Tuntun has now turned to Omi Iro (false water) a few months into the Makinde-led administration up to date.

During the 2015 campaign, the governor’s sugarcoated mouth made it seem like all the households in the state would be having 24 hours of running water, but the agency (water corporation) that ought to carry out this availability of social infrastructure was decimated under his watch.