Oyan Dam Controls Flooding, Not the Cause – Dr. Ashiru

The Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Ogun Osun River Basin Development Authority, Dr Deji Ashiru, has stressed that the Federal Government is committed to ending the perennial flooding affecting the residents of Isheri in Ifo Local Government Area of the state.

This is just as Ashiru urged the Isheri residents to stop blaming Oyan Dam for their travails saying, “The bitter truth is that without Oyan Dam, Isheri which is on a flood plain and some parts of Abeokuta, would have been submerged.”

The MD disclosed this at an engagement with the residents of the community on Tuesday.

Ashiru said the major contributory factor to the perennial flooding at Isheri is the identified ungated 52 tributaries that flow into the downstream of Ogun River causing a rise in water levels.

He explained that the Oyan and Ogun Rivers are transboundary in nature coming from Porto Novo in Benin Republic and that many times the rise in water levels of these rivers was because it rained in Porto Novo and not because of water releases from Oyan Dam.

Ashiru said the agency had been releasing about 17.4m cubic of water each day for about two months to control the surge of water into the Oyan Dam and prevent its collapse.

He said, “The people of Isheri should consider Oyan Dam as a blessing rather than attacking it because without this dam holding down the surge of water flowing down, there won’t be Isheri and some communities in Abeokuta which are on the path of the water.

“Oyan Dam is built to control flooding and erosion. I have said it over and again that there are 52 ungated tributaries downstream of Oyan Dam which is the major cause of the flooding we are experiencing in Isheri.

“The only haven they have here in Isheri is the gated Oyan Dam which controls the amount of water flowing upstream. What happens is this, Oyan River is a transboundary, the Ogun River is equally a transboundary river that flows into the country from Porto Novo.

“Even if there is no rain in Nigeria, once there is heavy rain in Porto Novo, the water level increases. While the one that flows into the Oyan Dam which is gated is controlled and released gradually, the one that flows into the Ogun River and the 52 tributaries flow straight down. I am saying that if not for Oyan Dam, the Isheri community might not be because this is the Dam which controls the erosion and flooding coming from the upstream.”