The Osun River, revered by the Yoruba people of Nigeria, could be in danger. Religious groups said in their alert that unlawful mining and the operations of big businesses were polluting the area. For thousands of worshipers who can bathe or drink its water, it is a dramatic and deadly situation.
“What people refer to as water we call herb, the herb of Osun because it has transcended ordinary water. It is not a river without an origin, it has an origin and has become a herb that we use for healing”, explains Osunyemi Ifarinu Ifabode, a chief priest in Osogbo.
The Osun-Osogbo sacred forest, a Unesco world heritage site in southwest Nigeria and the location of customary celebrations, is where the river flows. Large gold reserves in the Osun state draw both legal and criminal mining operations.
According to Osunyemi Ifarinu, “There was no threat to the river before mining activities began, but since people have started mining gold and using all kinds of chemicals, it is the chemical pollution that flows down the Osun river and reaches the sacred river at the grove. Ifabode, We advised them not to drink the river water anymore because it has been poisoned.
Also, I have written to the government of Osun State repeatedly to help stop the miners and mining activities which the government promised to take action however, no action.
Several tests conducted by the nonprofit organization Urban Alert last year revealed the river to be heavily contaminated with lead, mercury, cyanide and other elements.
They are blaming the authorities’ lack of action. “It seems the government is incapacitated about the problem and thereby exposing residents of the state, in fact, people living in more than twenty communities to the effect of the pollution.
While some people think that the contamination of the Osun river is not resolvable, I am optimistic and I believe that it is possible, the government just need to have that political will to save the iconic river.”, says Anthony Adejuwon, Team Lead of Urban Alert.
Despite the Chief Priest and officials’ request to stop drinking the river water, many devotees were seen defying the warning a few weeks ago, at the beginning of August, for the Osun-Osogbo festival.
