The fishermen of Makoko riverine settlement in Lagos have converged on the community’s Zontal Club Centre for a Community Dialogue, with the theme: Fish-Not-Oil, where they discussed what they believed to be major threats to their environment, personal wellbeing and means of livelihoods. WALE AJETUNMOBI reports.
The information about the meeting was disseminated late, but a considerable number of fishermen trooped to the venue to attend it. This obviously showed the pertinence of the event to their well being and livelihoods.
The Zontal Club Centre where the Community Dialogue was held became a beehive. Fishermen of Makoko, a riverine settlement on the fringe of Ebute Metta in Lagos, deemed it appropriate to cancel daily routines and join in the conversation about the misfortune that has struck their exclusive occupation – fishing – in recent times.
The fishermen’s countenances were expressive, evidently showing their fury and feeling of deprivation. The vigour of their agitations apparently underscored one thing: what used to be their lucrative trade is now endangered.
At the Community Dialogue, the fishermen bore their minds on the challenges facing them and how the megacity project of the Lagos State government is affecting their trade. The interactive event, tagged Fish-Not-Oil, was organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), an environment right group.
During the conversation moderated by a number of environmental rights activists, the fishermen said constant oil spill and the ongoing dredging around the coastline are depriving them of their rights to livelihood and spreading poverty in the community. They expressed fear that their means of livelihood could be destroyed completely if the government does not halt the ongoing construction projects around the Makoko coastline.
Makoko is a riverine slum at the edge of the Lagos lagoon and across the Third Mainland Bridge. It is a home to a significant number of Nigeria’s estimated 6.5 million fishermen occupying the nation’s 850 kilometre coastline.
Depleting fishing harvest in Makoko lagoon
For many years, the fishermen of Makoko, who live mainly on subsistence fishing, enjoyed their trade without impediment. According to the fishermen, they used to go for multiple catches in a day, with variety of fishes to sell in the market.
The story, however, changed after they started experiencing constant hydrocarbon pollution, resulting from the oil spill around the coastline. This, they said, kills aquatic species that could be fetched onshore close the coastline.
Fishes and variety of aquatic species, which the fishermen easily found in the lagoon, are not readily available as a result of the pollution, making it difficult for them to get abundant harvest.
“We are no longer enjoying fishing around our shoreline,” Chief J.P. Akere, the Vice President of Makoko Fishermen Association, summed up his colleagues’ dilemma in his opening remarks.
He said: “Each fisherman used to go for three catches in a day. That was the period when we could get all varieties of fishes around the lagoon. Today, we hardly get good catches, because of the oil spill coming from Niger Delta area. This is affecting us in unimaginable way.
“Before we can get good harvest, we need to sail deep into the midstream. But, this is a dangerous voyage for many of us, because we usually used canoes for fishing. We don’t have motorboats that can withstand the water current midstream. Our means of livelihood is daily threatened, because we are no longer making money from fishing. Our cast nets have been destroyed by the harmful chemicals that come with oil spill on our water.”
’Dredging endangers our lives’
The fishermen’s woes in catching fishes within shallow perimeters of the lagoon shore have been compounded by the ongoing dredging and land recovery projects around the Makoko coastline. The fishermen said the deeper the base of the ocean, the more it is difficult for them to catch fishes in the lagoon.
More so, the fixed-net structures they constructed within the lagoon to trap fishes are being destroyed by the excavators used for the dredging. The fishermen complained the vibration from the excavators also weakens the bases of their wooden shelters built in the lagoon, thereby endangering their lives and destroying their means of livelihood.
Akere said: “The ongoing dredging has made the fish to go down the base of the water where our cast nets cannot reach. The fixed-net traps, which we built at the base of the shallow zone of the lagoon, are being cleared by the excavators used for the dredging. It costs us about N300,000 to construct a fixed-net trap.
“The vibration from the machines they are using to dredge also puts our lives in danger. The foundations of the shelters we built in the lagoon have been weakened as result of the vibration from the machines.”
Activists rise in support of fishermen
At the end of their discussion, the fishermen concluded that oil spill and dredging activity around the coastline need to stop. They urged the federal and state governments to stop activities putting their lives at risk and threatening their rights to livelihood. Their conclusion was supported by the rights activists in attendance.
Convener of the Rural and Urban Development Initiative, Comrade Ishola Agbodemu, described the plight of the fishermen as “life-threatening”, saying the government must address the situation urgently.
The environmental activist, who works with vulnerable people, said it was insensitive for the government not to be conscious of the impact of its megacity project on the vulnerable people. He said: “It is insensitive for the government not to take into consideration the effect of the ongoing dredging and the oil spill on the fishing community. It is sad that we have a government which is only concerned about megacity, but not the wellbeing of the vulnerable people in the society. They are embarking on dredging, with the aim to evacuate people living in the slum.
“We are not against development drive of the government. They have to put people’s means of livelihood into consideration. This is why this dialogue is very important, because it will create the awareness to the general world about government’s intention and plan. People should not suffer because government wants a megacity.”
Mohammed Zanna, representative of the Justice and Empowerment Initiative, said there was need for the fishermen to adopt new methods in fishing against the backdrop of the difficulties in getting good harvest. This, he said, would be in line with the demands of a megacity project of the government.
He said: “It is a surprise that many fishermen still use the old methods used by our fore fathers to fish. This is why the government is not taking the plight of fishermen seriously. This old method needs to change and give way to the modern practice of fishing. There is nothing stopping a fisherman to have a good motorboat to fish in the midstream.”
The Baale (Head) of Makoko, Chief Ayinde Jeje, said the ongoing dredging is affecting the residents. He noted poverty could increase in the riverine community if activities destroying the inhabitants’ means of livelihood are not stopped.
Chief Jeje also appealed to the government to build a general hospital in Makoko-Iwaya area, noting that many residents had died because of the lack of health centre in the area.
NGO: ‘Fishing not a threat to megacity project’
HOMEF’s Director, Mr Nnimmo Bassey, who facilitated the Community Dialogue, said fishing is a “timeless occupation”, with an estimate of 6.5 million people depending on it. He wondered why artisan fishermen living in coastline usually became victims of what he called government’s “insensitive development plan”, pointing out that government was out to impoverish the fishermen with the ban on fishing around oil platforms in the water.
He said: “The combination of security cordon in the lagoon and oil spills places the fishermen at a disadvantaged position. The only option for many fishermen is to go into the high seas before they can have good harvest. As it is, the fishermen cannot afford to standard boats and modern equipment needed to go on fishing in high seas. Security forces have been placed on high seas to stop fishermen from getting close to oil platforms.”
Bassey said fishing was not a threat to the realisation of megacity project of the government, pointing out that pollution through oil spill and dredging is the major threat to the environment.
He said: “Not many people bother to answer a salient question as to what we would do if the water well runs dry. Probably, the answer would be to dig another well. If that one dries up too, you simply keep digging new ones. The question changes when we ask, what would happen if the ground water over an entire territory is polluted and we set about digging wells there? The answer is that, no matter how many wells we dig, we would end up with polluted water.
“Most of these fisher folks live on riverine communities without public utilities, no schools, no health centres. That situation is not different here in Makoko. Today we are examining the pollution in this environment. We are looking back at what living and fishing in this community was, some decades ago and the situation today. Changes have taken place. The essence of this Community Dialogue is to identify those factors that brought about the changes. Then, we will prepare an action plan by which we hope to recover the community’s ecological heritage and preserve same for future generations.”
