Makoko is a settlement of about 85,000 settlers located at the Ebute Metta diversion, just below the third mainland bridge.
This article tells the tough conditions residents in Makoko, a slum neighborhood located in Lagos, western Nigeria, go through to survive daily life.

Makoko is a town surrounded by water, illegally occupied according to the government but people are staying on. It’s a town with diverse cultures and traditions. Majority of the occupants are Egun, quite a large number of Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa also reside there. The area has a traditional leader called the Baale.

Anyone can already guess the nature of job in Makoko Community without being told. For the residents of Makoko, “life is good, as long as we catch lots of fishes to sell, either fresh or smoked” says Baba Ibeji, an housing agent.

Majority rely on produce from the sea for livelihood, either by being fishermen – mostly men, selling fresh or smoked fish- mostly women, dredging for construction sands.

They make their own fishing nets and canoe to move around on the water, each household has at least two canoes, one for the parents and the other for the children to go to and from school “the paddle is our key, just like car keys so we keep it safe” says one of the children.

Everyday is the same in Makoko, they go about their lives normally. The community is full of creativity, creativity forced to spring out from their reality of life on water.

Schools, religious houses and hospitals are all built on water. There’s a popular hospital where patients are attended to by white men, its called The Floating hospital; it’s like a hospital on patrol, it moves from one place to the other; but always on the water.

Although they are surrounded by water, the water is unhygienic for drinking. A few people in this community buy water from the Lagos State Water Cooperation and they resell at a fee, they hawk the water in big yellow kegs or small drums in their canoe and paddle from house to house every morning, and sometimes in the evening too.

Trading of anything and everything goes on, on water. Women and children selling cooked food, provisions, cooking ingredients like tomatoes, vegetables and pepper, clothes, soft drinks and even drugs on the water: it’s called “the moving market” says Micheal. Most of the floating houses have stores where they buy and sell household items and provisions in front. They have accepted this life on water, and adjusted to it over time.

“The people of Makoko live a very simple life, everyone does one thing or the other to survive, we don’t look down on one another or judge anyone. “Survival” is our theme here” says Micheal, a student of Adeyemi college of Education Ondo State.

Buyers who live outside the community flood the Asejere fish smoking market, popularly called Better Life market; everyday. Most of the buyers are interested in the seafood: fish, shrimps, lobsters, crabs, snails and also fresh vegetables, fruits and other items. “We get buyers from far and wide everyday, because everything here is cheap and affordable” says one of the market women.



Floating houses built with plank goes for three thousand Naira, while those built with aluminum and PVC goes for three thousand five hundred Naira. Both type of houses still have one thing in common : toilet and bathroom hangs by the side of the house: residents have to bath, urinate and defecate in the water, they also do their laundry with these water except for a few that can buy water for this purpose.

As the reporter journeyed along, she came across a banner advertising a brothel: Olobiyi Hotel. There are a few other brothels where girls live for short term to get their business up and running, “Most of the runs girls you see at night live and work from here, some of these girls go to yaba, Allen and Ikeja at night; some of them are students of various university and polytechnics” Says Micheal

“To live here in Makoko you have to be smart” says a bike rider

Although Makoko is highly polluted and inhabitable, the people are very enterprising. The huge market for seafood, creativity and tourism will always attract people to this floating community.


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Dig in deeper!!!!

Dig in deeper! A large number of Hausa' s don't reside there and that area has zero Baale too 4ur latest info..get your facts right!! and WTF do you mean Trading of anything and everything goes on water like there are no streets in Makoko ? Yooooo! @seun osewa who the Fuccck wrote this bullsh!it? Says BaBa Ibeji, Michael, WTF is DaT?? Every paragraph ends with a stup!id dumb lie one or two GhoST's told you. Can bet yOu never stepped in Makoko seF. Copy and PasTe motherfucking duck looking like some penguin in Lagos Lagoon..


NTA, Ait, RadioLagos wannabe caLLeD Esanola Yemisi. So, NaH bike man dHey give you dumbass info? Shameeeeee!


You can't even give advice on how government can improve the said slum area of Makoko?? You just write a diary pOsTeD here and that's all innit ?? DumbFack!

You can do better Missy!

You don't need to be too hard. It was a research carried out 4 years ago and it is streamline to the water side.

DeejayTeeno:
Dig in deeper! A large number of Hausa' s don't reside there and that area has zero Baale too 4ur latest info..get your facts right!! and WTF do you mean Trading of anything and everything goes on water like there are no streets in Makoko ? Yooooo! @seun osewa who the Fuccck wrote this bullsh!it? Says BaBa Ibeji, Michael, WTF is DaT?? Every paragraph ends with a stup!id dumb lie one or two GhoST's told you. Can bet yOu never stepped in Makoko seF. Copy and PasTe motherfucking duck looking like some penguin in Lagos Lagoon..


NTA, Ait, RadioLagos wannabe caLLeD Esanola Yemisi. So, NaH bike man dHey give you dumbass info? Shameeeeee!


You can't even give advice on how government can improve the said slum area of Makoko?? You just write a diary pOsTeD here and that's all innit ?? DumbFack!

You can do better Missy!

officialunique:
You don't need to be too hard. It was a research carried out 4 years ago and it is streamline to the water side.

Forgive my harshness.. Blame it on covid-19. Hey! Do you mind sharing how I can get to be a writer like yOurseLF?


Thanks in arrears.

DeejayTeeno:



Forgive my harshness.. Blame it on covid-19. Hey! Do you mind sharing how I can get to be a writer like yOurseLF?


Thanks in arrears.

My bad I am just seeing this. I can put you through.

officialunique:


My bad I am just seeing this. I can put you through.

Thanks.. kindly message me on WhatsApp.

09058313691.
Thanks