Contamination: Health concerns cast shadow over Osun-Osogbo festival

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Contamination: Health concerns cast shadow over Osun-Osogbo festival

Ahead of the grand finale of the annual Osun-Osogbo Cultural Festival, Osogbo, the capital of Osun State has been in celebration mood, with cultural enthusiasts from all parts of the globe, gradually arriving for the event holding this Friday.

But even in the mood of celebration, top of the issues raising concerns of stakeholders about this year’s event has been the contamination of Osun river which has made experts to consider the water unfit for usage by humans.

While the spate of violent crimes in Osogbo, often fuelled by illicit drug abuse, has been noted as another issue for concern, the health implications of consuming water from the river, which is said to be having heavy metal and cyanide in it, has raised the red flag difficult to ignore, thereby causing safety concerns ahead of the grand finale.

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.

Not minding the poor state of the water and health warnings, during last year grand finale of the annual cultural festival, adherents still openly drank and scooped the water in many plastic containers which they took to their various destinations for further use.

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.

Adejuwon further explained that, “Sometimes in 2018, water in the Osun River, which took its source from Igede-Ekiti, Ekiti State and flows through Ekiti, Osun, Oyo, Ogun and Lagos states suddenly changed colour from its normal transparent appearance to brown colour.

“As an organisation driven by facts with a foundation firmly rooted in data, we carried out geographical information analysis and laboratory tests to ascertain the cause of Osun River’s pollution and affirm the elements present in the water.

“Our scientific examinations revealed that Osun River is being polluted by the activities of gold miners in some parts of Osun State. Further physiochemical and microbiological test has revealed that the Osun River is heavily contaminated with mercury, lead, cyanide, and other injurious elements.

“Traditionalists, Osun devotees, local and foreign tourists of the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove and over 20 communities making use of the Osun River are exposed to cancer and other deadly ailments like brain and kidney failure, hearing loss, growth retardation, anaemia, impaired vision, paralysis and death.”

Traditionalists raise concerns

When speaking on the state of the water ahead of the grand finale of the Osun-Osogbo festival, 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 has embarked on sensitisation, targeting especially visitors to discourage them from drinking water from the river.

According to him, the level of advocacy on the dangers inherent in drinking the water has been rather poor.

He also expressed fear that many people because of their strong faith in the potency of the water from Osun River, may still go ahead to drink it regardless of what they are told.

Atanda said, “If the adherents do not stop to take this water, there is going to be an increase in cases of kidney disease. Many Osun devotees are still drinking the water and the government has not done anything about it. The best we can do is to continue to tell people that they can use the water to pray, wash their feet and hands, but they should not drink.

“But you know at times, this information may not go round, probably because the government too does not want to be embarrassed. Ideally, such information should be on all radio stations by now. It should be on billboards at the entrance of the Osun Grove so that nobody would claim ignorance.

He added, “But unfortunately, government is not assisting us. The best we have done is on social media and people who are our personal friends. Look at the number of people coming for the festival. How many of them will I know personally?

“Some people can also be fanatical just like we have them in every other religion and also tell you that no matter the level of contamination, their believe in the spiritual essence of Osun will still make the water work for them. That is where the government has a role to play. Unfortunately, they can’t turn back the hand of the clock, but they must realise how important this water is. How sacred it is to some people.”

He highlighted the fact that reports have indicated that the water is not pure.

“Heavy metal has been shown to have accumulated in this water beyond permissible levels. I am aware that some organisations have run laboratory tests on this water to show that there is a high deposit of heavy metals vis a vis led and mercury,” he added.

Relying on his medical expertise, Atanda, while noting that the state government has developed cold feet towards reinvestigating claims by a group, Urban Alert, that carried out research into the cause of contamination of Osun River and its implications, also said many that would drink from the river, might not feel any negative aftermath, until several years after.

Commenting further on some likely adverse health issues that may happen in the long run as a result of drinking from the contaminated river, Atanda said, “Lead and mercury are heavy metals that get deposited in the kidney and will eventually cause a kidney damage and whoever has that, would have an acute renal failure and unfortunately, this is a gradual process.

“We must also remember that water moves around. Water flows in and out of the Osun Grove. Unfortunately for us, Muslims and Christians will drink this water and not only Osun devotees because as the water flows out of the Osun Grove, it joins some other waters. It drains into well water that may be used in nearby homes, restaurants and eateries where they use well water. So, people should look at it beyond being the problem of Osun devotees alone.”

Speaking in similar vein, an Osogbo-based Ifa priest, Fasina Elebuibon, and an Osun adherent, Osunfunke Olagunju, who had come from Badagry, Lagos state, to participate in the grand finale of this year’s Osun-Osogbo festival, both said they were aware of the poor state of water in Osun River, but lamented poor awareness campaign about the situation.

Olagunju said the water she took from the river last year was used for several spiritual purposes, except drinking, and urged state government to intensify sensitisation before the grand finale on the dangers anyone that drink the water may be exposed to.

She said many people that would attend the Friday’s event were not likely to be aware of the dangers of drinking the water and suggested aggressive sensitisation including use of public address system to spread the message at the event.

When contacted, Osun State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Abiodun Ojo, said the government had intensified campaign against drinking from the river, he but expressed concerns that the people could not be punished for expressing their religious beliefs without committing any crime during the process.

Ojo, who admitted the genuineness of the concerns of people about the health implications of drinking the water, however said this year’s grand finale of the annual Osun-Osogbo would hold without hitch, as government had put all necessary measures in place to ensure a memorable event.