Makoko is a neighbourhood across the 3rd Mainland Bridge located on the coast of mainland Lagos. A third of the community is built on stilts along the lagoon and the rest is on the land. The waterfront part of the community is largely harboured by the Egunpeople who migrated from Badagary and Republic of Benin and whose main occupation is fishing. In July 2012, the Lagos State government ordered that some of the stilts beyond the power-lines be brought down without proper notice. This led to the destruction of several stilts on the Iwaya/Makoko waterfront and many families were rendered homeless. Makoko, Nigeria. Life in this sprawling shanty-town revolves around water.
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These labyrinthine waterways and houses-on-stilts at the edge of the Nigerian capital, Lagos, are what some three hundred thousand people call home.Founded as a tiny fishing settlement by West African migrants two hundred years ago, this slum-on-water has since grown into six districts.To city officials, the settlement is an eyesore, undermining Lagos’ image as Africa’s economic powerhouse.But to the people who live here, it is a dynamic community; a place of hopes and dreams; life and death. This is “Makoko on Water”.
