- Our goddess already cleansed river, no harm will befall us – Adherents
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
Despite warnings of possible health risks following the contamination of Osun river, devotees and cultural enthusiasts from all parts of the world who attended the grand finale of the annual Osun Osogbo Festival, Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, stormed the river, drank from it and fetched the poisonous water.
Osun river, which flows through the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was said to be having heavy metal and cyanide in it, which has made experts to consider the water unsafe for usage by humans.
According to Wikipedia, cyanide belongs to a chemical compound known as the cyano group, consisting of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. In inorganic cyanides, the cyanide group is present as the cyanide anion. This anion is extremely poisonous.
It has been the practice among Osun adherents, who usually come from all parts of the country and beyond, during the festival to scoop water from the river into containers of varying sizes and use the water for spiritual activities, that may include drinking, using it to prepare food or herbal concoctions.
Findings showed that the gradual contamination of Osun river, linked to mining activities, reached the peak with the change in colour of the Osun river between year 2018 and 2021.
Immediately this was observed, there were largely uncoordinated efforts by different groups to prevent further contamination using advocacy.
The groups carried out sensitisation programmes, meeting various stakeholders to discuss the poor state of the river.
They also drew government’s attention to the dangers that illegal mining activities pose to the water from the river which is being used for domestic and agricultural purposes, as well as industrial operations within and outside the state.
But despite the massive advocacy against further contamination by miners and the push for government to purify the water, mining activities at the point where the river was contaminated had continued unabated, making the water to remain dangerous for human consumption.
In December, 2021, a non-governmental organisation based in Osogbo, Urban Alert, took the first major efforts towards forcing government’s hands into action, when it declared that over two million residents of the state might have been exposed to life-threatening health challenges, following the contamination of the Osun River.
Presenting the report of an investigation conducted by his group, Anthony Adejuwon, who is the Team Lead, said scientific examinations revealed that the Osun River was polluted by the activities of gold miners in some parts of the state.
The state government under the leadership of Governor Ademola Adeleke had in June, this year, said it had commenced efforts towards cleaning up the river.
Notwithstanding, the water has been in poor state. In the build up to the festival, stakeholders expressed concerns and warned participants from consuming water from the river.
The President, Traditional Religion Worshippers Association, in Osun State, Dr. Oluseyi Atanda, who lamented the apparent lack of urgency on the part of government to curb further contamination and set machinery in motion to purify the water, insisted that the water remained unsafe for drinking.
Atanda, an Ifa priest and a consultant obstetrician at the Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, said the apex body for traditionalists in the state had embarked on sensitisation, targeting especially visitors to discourage them from drinking water from the river during the grand finale.
However, checks by The Point revealed that adherents and tourists ignored the warnings by openly drinking the contaminated water and using varying sizes of plastic containers to fetch it at the grove, which they took to their various destinations for further use after the festival came to a close last Friday in Osogbo.
When asked why they did not mind the poor state of the water and health warnings, an adherent who identified himself as Tunde, said, “We believe that our goddess has already purified the water and cleaned it up. No harm will befall us.”
Another worshipper who did not want to disclose her name revealed that devotees drank water from the river last year and they did not develop any ailments afterwards.
