Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Nigeria's 200-year-old historic water-world_Lagos Makoko

Nigeria's 200-year-old historic water-world_Lagos Makoko
Photographer Iwan Baan released photos from Makoko community, a city built on stilts in the Lagos Lagoon off the coast of Nigeria. Kinabuti team, Lola Okoye and friends took gifts to the community of Makoko in Yaba, Lagos State on Saturday, December 13, 2014 at the "Floating school" in the community of fishermen and women who live on water.

 It is no ordinary neighbourhood of Lagos - Nigeria's most populous city - with some calling it the "Venice of Africa". This 200-year-old water-world, however, is a vast slum with hovels built upon wooden stilts.

"I grew up in Makoko. Day to day, water is a problem here," Moses told Al Jazeera.

Ogon, another of the resident nodded in agreement. "People have lived here for many years and there is no solution to the water problem. We have boreholes where they sell water to the people."

Local entrepreneurs such as Samuel Onoja dig out groundwater and sell it at different locations around the slum. He fills up a large tank from a borehole 200 metres into the lagoon and sells it near his home.

"I work for my boss. He buys the water for 2,000 naira [$13] and we sell it for 4,000 naira [$26]," Onoja explained, rushing to fill canisters for customers who had queued up in boats outside his hut.

It's routine in Makoko for one family member to queue up at local water kiosks to fetch their daily supply. On average, each family in Makoko spends about 5,000 naira ($31) each month on groundwater.
MAKOKO FLOATING SCHOOL
Makoko, a Floating Slum in Nigeria
Nigeria's Makoko slum where up to 250,000 residents
Lagos Makoko
lagos photos
living in lagos

0 comments:

Post a Comment