Nigeria“s Osun River: Sacred, revered and increasingly toxic
SMACIN GRACEFULL TEAM Nigeria“s Osun River: Sacred, revered and increasingly toxic A fishing canoe sits near a dam that sources the sacred Osun River in Esa-Odo, Nigeria, on Saturday, May 28, 2022. The river, which flows through the dense forest of the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove — designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005 — is revered for its cultural and religious significance among the Yoruba-speaking people predominant in southwestern Nigeria, where the goddess Osun is widely worshipped. ADVERTISEMENT OSOGBO, Nigeria — Yeyerisa Abimbola has dedicated most of her 58 years on Earth to the Osun, a waterway in deeply religious Nigeria named for the river goddess of fertility. As the deity’s chief priestess, she leads other women known as servants of Osun in daily worship and sacrificial offerings along the riverbank. ADVERTISEMENT But with each