Ogunpa River

The Ogunpa River river system is a third-order stream with a channel length of 21.5  ;km and area 73.3 km2 draining the densely populated eastern part of Ibadan Nigeria . The city of Ibadan in south western Nigeria (7º23’ N, 3º5’ E) is the largest urban centre in Africa south of the Sahara. Ogunpa River is known to contain 49 species of Zooplankton. Zooplankton, are tiny aquatic animals that fish feeds on, these helps maintain the Ecological Balance of the [[Environment (biophysical)|Environment]

Public Safety Nuisance

Household waste is known to be dumped along the path of "ogunpa", this sometime results in disastrous consequences . In 1960, more than 1,000 residents were rendered homeless when the Ogunpa River again exceeded its banks. More than 500 houses were damaged in 1963 when the river again flooded the city. In 1978, official record confirmed that 32 bodies were retrieved from the ruins of the flood even as more than 100 houses were destroyed.

Disaster

It was however the flood of 1980 that however gave "Ogunpa" in national and international notoriety. After about 10 hours of heavy downpour recorded as four times heavier than it was during the 1978 flood, the city was virtually left in ruins. More than 100 bodies were retrieved from the debris of collapsed houses and vehicles washed away by the deluge/stories

Channelisation Project

In 1999,the Nigerian Government took over the "Channelisation Project" of "Ogunpa" these had been bedeviled by series of problems since 1977- it was first started by the State government- Oyo State. To this end A 10 billion Naira contract was awarded to finish the Channelisation of "Ogunpa".

And Although the entire project was scheduled for completion in February 2003, some of the contractors working on the Channelisation reportedly abandoned the site unfinished

References