Ogun River
title: "Ogun River" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rivers-of-nigeria", "rivers-of-yorubaland", "oyo-state", "ogun-state", "rivers-of-lagos", "waterways-in-lagos"] topic_path: "geography/nigeria" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogun_River" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Ogun River |
| name_other | Odò Ògùn |
| image | Sun sets at Ogun River.jpg |
| map | SW Nigeria OSM.png |
| map_size | 250 |
| mouth_location | Lagos |
| subdivision_type1 | Country |
| subdivision_name1 | Nigeria |
| length | 480 km |
| source1_elevation | 530 m |
| mouth_elevation | 0 m |
| basin_size | 23000 km2 |
| :: |
| name = Ogun River | name_other = Odò Ògùn | image =Sun sets at Ogun River.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = | image_caption = | map =SW Nigeria OSM.png | map_size =250 | map_alt = | map_caption = | source1_location = | mouth_location = Lagos | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = Nigeria | progression = | length = 480 km | source1_elevation = 530 m | mouth_elevation = 0 m | discharge1_avg = | basin_size = 23000 km2 | river_system = | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right =
The Ogun River (Yoruba: Odò Ògùn) is a waterway in Nigeria that discharges into the Lagos Lagoon. Ogun State of Nigeria is named after the river.
Course and usage
The river rises near the towns of Sepeteri and Shaki in upper Oyo State at coordinates and flows through the rest of the state into Ogun State and eventually into Lagos State where it discharges into the Lagos lagoon at the towns of Isheri and Owode onirin. The river is crossed by the Ikere Gorge Dam in the Iseyin local government area of Oyo State. The reservoir capacity is 690 e6m3.{{cite book |page=314 |title=Dams and Reservoirs, Societies and Environment in the 21st Century: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Dams in the Societies of the 21st Century, 22nd International Congress on Large Dams (ICOLD), Barcelona, Spain, 18 June 2006 |editor=L. Berga |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2006 |isbn=0-415-40423-1}} The reservoir abuts the Old Oyo National Park, providing recreational facilities for tourists, and the river flows through the park.{{cite web |url=http://nigeriaparkservice.org/oyo/Default.aspx |title=Old Oyo National Park |publisher=Nigeria National Park Service |access-date=2010-11-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216091305/http://nigeriaparkservice.org/oyo/Default.aspx/ |archive-date=16 December 2017 |url-status=usurped
History
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/-phemmyphotography@PHEMMY_PHOTOGRAPHY@olumo-71.jpg" caption="Aro bridge over the Ogun river"] ::
In the Yoruba religion, Yemoja is the divinity of the Ogun River. The catechist Charles Phillips, father of the Charles Phillips who later became Bishop of Ondo, wrote in 1857 that the Ogun River was generally worshipped by the people who live along its banks from its rise until where it empties into the lagoon.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BIdITHIAEs0C&pg=PA201 |title=Hail Orisha!: a phenomenology of a West African religion in the mid-nineteenth century |first=Peter Rutherford |last=McKenzie |publisher=BRILL |year=1997 |page=30 |isbn=90-04-10942-0}} The river ran through the heart of the old Oyo Empire. Metropolitan Oyo was divided into six provinces with three on the west side of the Ogun River and three to the river's east.{{cite book |author1=Stride, G.T. |author2=C. Ifeka |name-list-style=amp |page=296 |title=Peoples and Empires of West Africa: West Africa in History 1000–1800 |publisher=Nelson |location=Edinburgh |year=1971 |isbn=0-17-511448-X}} At one time, the river formed an important route for traders carrying goods by canoe between Abeokuta and the Lagos Colony.{{cite book |ref= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q5kAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA381 |title=British and foreign state papers, Volume 54 |author=Foreign and Commonwealth Office |publisher=H.M.S.O. |year=1859}}
Gallery
File:Ogun river in Abeokuta Ogun State, Nigeria.jpg|Ogun river in Abeokuta which is referred to as "Odo Ogun" by the locals. File:Ogun river view from Olumo top in Abeokuta, Ogun State-Nigeria.jpg|Ogun river from the top of Olumo rock in Abeokuta, ogun state File:Sun sets at Ogun River.jpg|Sunset at Ogun river File:Birds Cloaking on a Tree Beside Ogun River.jpg|Dawn at Ogun river File:Bridge over Ògùn river.jpg|Bridge over Ogun river File:River Ogun Bridge Enterance (Enu Gada) (1).jpg|River Ogun bridge entrance File:-phemmyphotography@PHEMMY PHOTOGRAPHY@olumo-71.jpg|Aro bridge over ogun river
References
References
- [https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/fb19/bb736cf95a4a76067a6f3f2e13f3b5f64745.pdf Fluid Flow Interactions in Ogun River, Nigeria]
- (26 January 2016). "Ogun River - LitCaf".
- "How Each Nigerian State Got Its Name {{!}} Zaccheus Onumba Dibiaezue Memorial Libraries".
- "How unchecked water pollution affects fishing communities in Ogun".
- [https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-Ogun-and-Osun-River-Basins-and-the-Adjacent-Basins_fig2_277233312#:
:text=The%20major%20tributaries%20of%20the,season%20between%20April%20and%20October. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-Ogun-and-Osun-River-Basins-and-the-Adjacent-Basins_fig2_277233312#::text=The%20major%20tributaries%20of%20the,season%20between%20April%20and%20October.] - (2022-09-22). "Flood threat: Ogun border community cries out over opening Oyan River dam".
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