By Oyo Amebo
For decades, water scarcity in Oyo State symbolised broken governance. Rusting pipes, dry taps, and endless queues told the story of neglect.
That story is changing under the determined leadership of Elias Adeojo, Chairman of the Oyo State Water Corporation, working under Governor Seyi Makinde’s reform agenda.
“When water flows, it tells the people their government remembers them,” Adeojo often says, and his work is proving that promise true.
His first task was rebuilding from within: strengthening staff capacity, repairing decayed infrastructure, and returning accountability to the centre of operations.
Today, solar-powered boreholes in Ibarapa bring steady supply to once-isolated communities. In Ibadan, digital sensors detect leaks before they become crises.
Across Oke-Ogun, trained local technicians keep systems running and jobs local. Markets operate without disruption, schools stay open, and families now turn taps instead of tankers.
Inside the corporation, a quiet revolution has replaced paper bureaucracy with data-driven management.
Field assessments inform policy; finances are transparent; progress is monitored in real time. Adeojo’s style, unassuming yet relentless, mirrors Makinde’s broader governance ethos: people first, process second.
“Development only works when it belongs to the people,” Adeojo insists. “If they are part of it, they will sustain it.” This principle guides every new project, from consultation to execution, embedding shared ownership across communities.
Challenges persist: ageing infrastructure and limited funding remain hurdles. But Adeojo’s partnership-driven approach, with universities, innovators, and international agencies, is widening both capacity and confidence.
Across Oyo today, the sound of running taps has become a quiet anthem of reform. The story of water is once again a story of trust, proof that governance, when sincere, can flow as surely as the water it restores.
