Again, Osun Community Calls For Dredging Of Aigbe Stream As Flood Continues To Wreak Havoc

Yusuf Oketola

RESIDENTS of Okinni in Egbedore local government of the State of Osun have again called on the state government to dredge Aigbe stream in the area for free flow of water.

The residents noted that the blockage of the stream has made it difficult for free flow of water whenever it rained.

The Aigbe stream takes its source from Ayekaale, Olude area of Oke-Onitea and flows directly to Okinni.

The recent appeal is the third of its kind in 2023, as the residents had on two different occasions called on the government to save their lives and property from flooding as a result of blockage of Aigbe stream.

OSUN DEFENDER visited the community yesterday and observed that buildings close to the stream were being affected by flood.

The state government recently announced that it had dredged 25 streams and rivers to avert flooding in the state, but the Aigbe stream is le out, despite the con nuous appeal from the people of the area.

Speaking with OSUN DEFENDER, a vic m of flood, Engineer Abdulazeez Adetunji, lamented that the situa on is ge ng out of hand as the residents were experiencing flooding repeatedly.

According to Adetunji, with OSUN DEFENDER through her Personal Assistant, Mr Adesola Adepeju, said some elements were trying to sabotage the staff audit exercise, sta ng that she has always been professional and diligent in her duty. the ongoing construc on of Okinni township road was also contribu ng to flood occurrence in the area, no ng that the erosion coming from the drainage was directly channeled to their community. He said the residents of the area have approached the contractor handling the road with no posi ve result.

Adepeju explained that the staff audit came with lots of controversies which requires that security should be put into considera on for the consultant during the exercise.

According to Adepeju, the state government was yet to provide adequate security for the exercise which will guarantee her safety and that of her staff as agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding.

Explaining what transpired yesterday, Adepeju said: “We had been witnessing some kinds of unpleasant behaviour since Wednesday. The exercise didn’t start un l around 1pm on Wednesday, and the consultant le around 10pm without any security details. This is a serious exercise that came with lots of controversies. Her safety should be considered.

“On Thursday, we thought everything would be smooth as we were expec ng maximum corpora on from our people. But that is not the case. The consultant wasn’t at the venue ini ally. She was called by her staff who reported that the place was rowdy and they were frightened.

“She came to the venue, met some magistrates and went on to attend to them in a private place to honour them. At that me, the place was not se led s ll and the rowdiness was already becoming a threat. The workers were singing aluta songs. She politely told the magistrates that she could not con nue with the exercise for security reason.

“She stepped out in an a empt to make phone call to request for security. That was when the workers started displaying.

“In all this, we suspected that some elements are trying to sabotage the exercise. Some people might be expecting that the consultant should share them part of the money she collected for the exercise (even when she is yet to be paid) while some others might bring poli cs in.

“We appealed to the workers to corporate with us.”

DECADES ago, the Bri sh Rock Band the Rollong Stones famously said in “Changing Times” that “you can’t change me but me will change you”. The observa on is actually more relevant today within the context of the fourth industrial revolu on as well as the changing pa erns of interna onal trade and in general social and economic rela onships. Overall the “ mes have changed” and there is no rolling back the de.

Even before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the very concept, and des na on organisa onal methods of the workforce had changed. “COVID” accelerated the profound changes.

With the forced change in consump on pa erns because of the elimina on of the fraud propelled “fuel subsidy “ the Modus Operandi of the workplace is now on the front burner!

Sadly, there is no coherent response from Nigeria’s governing class, on the contrary they are pulling in different direc ons. The Governor of the State of Osun for example has indicated a cut in the amount of working days in addi on to the provision of free public transporta on for public servants; in contra dis ncon, Kwara State is flip-flopping going back on an ini al pledge to cut the amount of working days. The