For years, heavy rainfall raised concerns among residents around Temidire Bridge and traders at the nearby Oje Market in Ibadan North-East Local Government Area of Oyo State. The watercourse had become narrowed by accumulated silt, refuse and other debris, reducing its capacity to carry water during heavy rainfall. Residents said the resulting flooding disrupted movement and threatened homes and businesses, particularly when the river overflowed its banks.
The situation began to change in August 2025 when the Karim Adeyemi Foundation, using an excavator provided by the Ibadan North-East Local Government, commenced the dredging and expansion of more than 100 metres of the Temidire watercourse and drainage. The council subsequently extended the clearance by another 100 metres at its own expense.
A year after the intervention, residents interviewed for this report said they had not experienced the level of flooding and river overflow that previously accompanied periods of heavy rainfall. One of them, Mr Tajudeen Ayoola, recalled the anxiety residents experienced before the dredging.
“When the rain became heavy, the first thing people did was to start thinking about their belongings and how the water would affect them,” he said. “Sometimes movement became very difficult because the water covered parts of the road. People living close to the river had to monitor it whenever there was heavy rain.”
The impact extended to traders at Oje Market, particularly those operating around Temidire Bridge. The Babaloja of Oje Market and a representative of the Companion Traders Association of Nigeria, Oyo State, Alhaji Olaosebikan, had previously described how flooding affected commercial activities and movement.
“When the river is full, movement is restricted completely, and this has badly affected the economy of traders and residents in the area,” he said. “Our people find it difficult to transport goods, and businesses suffer losses.”
However During a September 2026 follow-up visit, residents reported that the watercourse had continued to contain the flow of water without the level of flooding into adjoining homes and compounds experienced in previous years.
The dredging is, however, only one aspect of the Karim Adeyemi Foundation’s activities in Temidire. Since 2024, the foundation has undertaken interventions addressing water access, sanitation and environmental challenges, while continuing to engage residents and monitor the use of its projects.
Its first major intervention in the community addressed access to clean water. In December 2024, the foundation commissioned an electrified borehole serving Temidire, Oje and surrounding communities.
The project subsequently drew attention to another challenge identified by residents: inadequate access to sanitation facilities. Some residents had continued to use the stream and surrounding areas for bathing and open defecation. Women trading at Oje Market also faced difficulties accessing suitable facilities for their sanitation needs.
Hence, in response, construction began in April 2025 on a public toilet and bathroom facility in Temidire. The facility comprises six toilets and two bathrooms, alongside a biogas system designed to process human waste and convert it into cooking gas.
The facility became operational in 2026, providing residents and traders with an alternative to using the stream and surrounding areas for sanitation. However, as of the foundation’s September 2026 review, the biogas system had yet to produce usable quantities of cooking gas, leaving that component of the project to be fully operationalised.
The project also reflects the role of community participation in the delivery of local development initiatives. According to information provided during the follow-up, the foundation approached several families for land on which to build the facility before the Ajobo Family Compound agreed to donate part of its land for the project. The family’s contribution provided the site for a facility intended to serve residents and traders in the surrounding community. Its name was also inscribed on the building.
A resident described the difference the facility had made, saying: “Before, we used the stream. Now we have somewhere proper to go.”
Despite the availability of the facility, however, sanitation practices remain a concern. Some residents continue to use the stream, while indiscriminate refuse disposal around the watercourse threatens to undermine the benefits of the dredging.
These challenges highlight the importance of sustained community engagement, public awareness and effective enforcement of environmental regulations. Infrastructure can provide alternatives to harmful practices, but its long-term impact also depends on whether residents use the facilities provided and whether the authorities responsible for sanitation and waste management can enforce existing rules.
The concerns in Temidire form part of a broader environmental management challenge that the Oyo State Government has continued to address through sanitation campaigns, waste evacuation and interventions targeting flooding and poorly managed waterways.
In 2025, the state government reiterated its position against indiscriminate waste disposal and open defecation and inaugurated a State Task Group on Sanitation to coordinate efforts towards ending open defecation and improving water, sanitation and hygiene practices.
In 2026, the government also intensified the evacuation of refuse from roads, drainages and water channels and announced measures, including requirements for residential and commercial buildings to provide waste bins, as part of efforts to improve waste management. Other interventions have addressed flooding, erosion and waterway management, including projects under the NEWMAP-EIB programme.
These measures demonstrate the government’s continuing efforts to address environmental challenges across the state. However, sustaining the gains requires effective implementation at every level of government, adequate funding, sufficient personnel and consistent monitoring.
Concerns about understaffing and inadequate resources among frontline enforcement personnel, particularly at the local government level, also point to the practical difficulties that can arise between announcing environmental policies and ensuring compliance within communities.
The experience in Temidire illustrates why cooperation between government authorities, community organisations and residents remains important. The Ibadan North-East Local Government provided the excavator for the initial dredging, while the foundation sponsored the intervention. The council subsequently extended the clearance at its own expense.
The partnership demonstrates how community-based initiatives can complement public-sector efforts to address environmental problems. It also highlights the need to sustain such interventions beyond the initial execution of projects.
For the Karim Adeyemi Foundation, continued engagement in Temidire provides an opportunity to assess the condition of its projects and identify outstanding needs. The watercourse requires protection from refuse dumping, the public sanitation facility needs consistent use and maintenance, and the biogas system remains to be fully operationalised.
These issues will determine how much of the initial intervention’s benefits can be sustained over time. The dredged channel, for instance, could gradually lose its capacity if refuse and other debris accumulate again. Similarly, the availability of a public toilet does not automatically eliminate open defecation without continued public education and changes in behaviour.
For residents, the experience of the 2026 rainy season so far provides a basis for comparing conditions before and after the dredging. The level of flooding previously associated with heavy rainfall has not been reported during the follow-up, while the sanitation facility offers an alternative to practices that contribute to environmental pollution.
The interventions have also developed over time rather than being confined to a single project. The electrified borehole was commissioned in 2024, followed by the construction of the sanitation facility and the dredging intervention in 2025. Together, the projects address three interconnected community needs: access to water, sanitation and the management of a watercourse vulnerable to flooding and pollution.
One year after the dredging, Temidire’s experience points to the value of combining infrastructure development with community participation and sustained government action. The reported reduction in flooding provides an encouraging indication of the intervention’s impact, while the outstanding sanitation and waste-management challenges show that the work is not yet complete.
Maintaining the progress will require continued cooperation between the foundation, the local government, relevant state agencies and community members. Effective enforcement, adequate resources and responsible environmental practices will be essential to protecting the watercourse and ensuring that the sanitation facility serves its intended purpose.
At Temidire Bridge, the dredging has provided residents with a reason to reassess their experience of the rainy season. Whether the reported improvement can be sustained in subsequent years will depend not only on the work completed in 2025, but also on the maintenance of the channel, the effective management of waste and the continued commitment of all those responsible for the community’s environment.
