Oyan Dam: Close shave with a ‘sweet-bitter blessing’

Victor with her daughter, (left) the village hall (right), water being released from the dam (background).

The cause of the recent flooding that wreaked havoc on parts of Lagos and Ogun states has been widely linked to the waters released from the Oyan Dam located in Abeokuta area of Ogun. But a visit to the facility reveals much more, writes AKEEM LASISI, with photographs by Odutayo Odusanya. In a wide world of its own, the Oyan Dam nestles opulently like an alternative sea. But for the sturdy walls and other devices holding its gently dancing water from flowing off beat, anyone without a knowledge of geography or unfamiliar with the dam‘s history would hardly think that it is a man-made river.

To a water freak, the temptation is even there to jump inside and begin to swim. But that would be a naked risk, if not a sporting suicide. For in terms of depth, the Oyan Dam can be about the height of some 20 storey buildings erected on top of one another. Speaking in figures, the lake covers 4,000 hectares and has a catchment area of 9,000 km. It has a crest length of 1044 m, height, 30.4 m and gross storage capacity of 270 million m. More importantly, the dread that had, in the past six weeks, developed around the name, ‘Oyan Dam’, would not encourage anyone who witnessed the flood that ravaged several parts of Ogun and Lagos States to venture too near the artificial river.

Ironically, this morning, Monday, October 25, the dam is calm - almost too calm for the image it has so acquired when many people linked the cause of the floods that have left many people homeless and turned them into unintended guests at a relief camp built for the victims by Lagos State government. Only two weeks ago, a young woman, Uche Victor, gave birth to a girl at the emergency home in Agbowa, Epe Local Government Area of the state. Some nine months ago, when Uche and her husband were concretising the agenda to have the baby, it could never have crossed their minds that it would be born far away from their home or their family hospital.

Yet, as a Yoruba proverb says, if a death that threatened to kill one eventually ends up seizing only one‘s cap, there is still a lot to rejoice about. For the couple‘s case is nothing compared to the tragedy the flood inflicted on Ugochi Ude and her parents. The school girl lost her life in the flood.

Damned from giving its best
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