TAIWO ALIMI captures the heartrending tales of natives of Ibeju Lekki and environs living in paucity and abject poverty after losing their peace, livelihood and heritage to business conglomerates and climate change.
lder Idris Idera wore a forlorn look as the reporter approached him on a cool daybreak. Without a change in countenance, he pointed to a plastic chair in a gesture of silent invitation. Despite his reserved manner, it seemed clear that he had looked forward to the reporter’s arrival while not overtly expressing it.
His face is dark and rough, like someone who works under the atmosphere. The scorching heat has sun baked his expression into a permanent pout.
“I’ve been at sea all night,” the experienced fisherman finally broke his silence, gesturing to a basket some distance away. “See what I caught.”
Inside it are small fishes, crabs and sizable prawns.
The 61-year-old has traversed the sea and rivers between Lagos’s Ibeju Lekki and Epe areas all his life, looking for fish. His life and those of his dependants depend on it.
“I don’t know any other way of life. It was handed to me by my father and his father handed it to him. As soon as I could walk, he (his father) would put me in his canoe and venture into the ocean.
“He taught me where to get the biggest fish and I’ve been doing it for more than 50 years. I don’t know about any other job.”
Idera lives in Magbon-Segun, one of the 37 villages of Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State. He is from Ilaje, one of the largest fishing tribes in Nigeria. The Ilajes occupy the tail of the ocean from Lagos to Ondo State. Originally from the Badagry area of Lagos, they can be found from the west to the south of the country; wherever water and fish can be found. The Ilajes are traditionally associated with marine; fishing, canoe making, net making, lumbering, farming, and trading.
Idera and hundreds of his tribesmen crisscross the sea, lakes and rivers every year for fish. They operate a lot in the night when the sea is calmer. In the morning clients come for their goods, while their women take the leftovers to the local markets.
Proceeds of fishing have formed the bedrock of their economy. With it they have fed their families, which are exceptionally large, built houses, educated their wards, and held their own in the communal society.
Idera is unhappy that the fisherman tradition in his family will end with him. “There is nothing to hand over to my children,” in a tone laden with regrets.
The eldest of them, Dele, 39, attended the community secondary school before moving to City Polytechnic, Lagos for his National Diploma (ND) in Accountancy.
“I had planned to hand over to him. I taught him all the tricks of fishing, but he has abandoned his home and his people,” Idera lamented.
But Dele, who lives about 28 miles away in Lekki Phase 1, has his mind fixed on one issue: how to survive the hell he’s experiencing on earth.
He said: “I wanted to be a fisherman like my father and grandfather. It used to be a lucrative job.
“As a schoolboy, I used to follow them on fishing expeditions and I used to make extra money, which I spent on my friends.
“I was popular in school and many people followed me around.”
But things have changed now. Dele was reluctant to talk about his current source of livelihood. “I do anything that I find to do with my hands. I dredge river sand and carry same. I fish once a while. I make ends meet by doing whatever job I’m called upon to do.”
The bottom line is that Dele is not gainfully employed. He takes care of himself and his family by doing menial jobs around the locality.
Reminded of his Polytechnic degree, he said: “ND certificate is useless in Nigeria today. I looked for a white-collar job but could not find any.
“I am struggling now to ensure that my kids complete their education and not become dropouts like me. I want them to go to the university so they can take care of me when I am old.
“When I make enough money I will leave this place. There is nothing left here for me again.”
Both Dele and his father claimed to have experienced better days. “We used to be happy in this community. Each time we went out to fish, we came back with large fish.
“It is a pride when you catch big fish. You don’t sell them until your colleagues have come to see them because it is a thing of pride.
“I built my house from fishing proceeds and sent all my children to school.
“There was prosperity in the land coming from the sea. But things have changed now,” Idera said.
PARADISE LOST
Like Idera, Odubote Akorede, Chairman, Association of Fishing and Fishing Related Persons in Ibeju Lekki area, started venturing into the sea at a tender age. His father taught him how to fish from the lake to the river until he graduated into ocean fishing.
“I enjoyed fishing and it was easy for me to devote my life to it,” Akorede recalled.
He had begun to do solo fishing as a teenager. Soon, he gathered his team and took a loan from the Cooperative Society to buy his boats and money began to roll in. He soon joined the rank of affluent fishermen in Ibeju Lekki – famous for supplying the aquatic cuisine of Lagos. He was also called upon to lead the fishermen’s association.
To expand his business, Akorede married early and did not stop at one wife. He tied the nuptial knot with four women who bore him 24 children.
“I built a large house and God gave me the capacity to fend for my family. I had multiple boats and could afford to send them to school,” he said.
The future seemed rosy until the coming of the conglomerates, closely followed by climate change on account of which all hell was let loose. Fishing activities came to a halt and the prosperity and tranquility of Ibeju Lekki crumbled like a pack of cards.
“Our children’s education has been affected. Many of them are at home.
“I have no money to pay my children’s school fees.
“Many of our people are homeless. They cannot feed and our youths have become Area Boys (miscreants).
Akorede traced the problems to the dredging activities of the conglomerates, which began in 2014.
He said: “In 2014, the Dangote Group of Companies arrived on our shores, and since then we have never been the same again.
“They started by dredging the sea. By 2016, they began laying pipes in the sea and bringing in large ships.
“They anchored their ships on our beaches where we sell fish.
“Then by 2017, the sea started sweeping away our homes and palm trees planted by our forefathers, which had also served as our sources of livelihood.”
He said 37 communities were affected while more than 8,000 youths were rendered jobless.
“At least 8,000 are jobless. Out of frustration, they have become social outcasts and drug addicts. They are just roaming about.
“The women who roast the fish and take them to the market for sale are out of job. Now they have to change their line of work.”
THE NEW LAGOS
Ibeju Lekki is called the ‘New Lagos.’ It is the fastest growing community in Lagos; home to Nigeria’s defining corporations like the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Industry, Lekki Deep Seaport, Lekki International Airport, and Lekki Free Trade Zone.
Dangote’s project is put at $17 billion and is the largest industrial project in Africa. The deep seaport, opposite the Lekki Free Trade Zone, is expected to handle over six million 20-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) of containers.
The projects were projected to provide employment opportunities to over 350,000 Nigerians with the host communities given first consideration.
They have all turned out a mirage.
CHANGES
The 176 sq ml natural beauty and ecological splendor bonded by the Atlantic Ocean is gone. The activities of the multinational companies have eroded the waters, drove the fishes away, contaminated the waters and spiked climate change in the area, yet the promises of jumbo jobs and provision of social amenities for the community were not kept.
There is evidence of eroded lands on the Lagos shores from Lekki to Ibeju Lekki to neighbouring communities up to about 12 km in badly affected areas.
Nnimmo Bassey, a renowned Nigerian environmental activist, said the persistent climate change is biting harder in Nigeria and extension Africa than other countries and continents.
He said the impact is felt in many Nigerian communities such as Ibeju Lekki in sea level rise, coastal erosion, and incessant floods.
Bassey said: “When we want to see an example of climate injustice, Africa is a perfect example because Africa has contributed the minute amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and yet she is taking all the beating and all the impact.
“We have cases of drought, floods, coastal erosion, sea level rise, and every single thing you can think about in climate impact.
“From all the impact that we have seen and from what we have heard from experts, what we have seen is bad but what is coming will be worse.”
He opined that climate change is fast-tracked by the actions and inactions of oil extraction multinationals in the African shores.
Bassey postulated: “Climate consequences reverberate across the land and water of Ibeju Lekki.
“At the very heart of the crises are the local communities. Though the government says development has come to the land with the birth of a refinery and seaport, it has made the lives of indigenous people miserable.”
IBEJU-LEKKI AS SHADOW OF FORMER SELF
Ibeju Lekki is a shadow of its former self. The once boisterous fishing community bears the scars of rising sea levels, sea line erosion, floods, and pollution.
People now have to change their lifestyle from fishing to unskilled work that is not available.
Presently, Ibeju Lekki, which borders the Atlantic Ocean, and Lagos Lagoon, and maintains proximity to water communities like Oniru, Lekki, Eleko, Epe and Elegushi, plays host to many multinationals and subsidiary companies that have built their homes, offices, and fun spots in the area. It is home to many five-star hotels, super-rich housing estates, private recreational centres and sophisticated fun spots. On the face value, Ibeju Lekki breathes prosperity. But the natives, who have lost everything or nearly everything, are in hopeless poverty.
‘They did not only take our land, they have taken our livelihood, and now our peace,” Idera lamented.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN MOST AFFECTED
When two elephants fight, they say, it is the grass that suffers. The most vulnerable groups in this antithetical trend are children and women.
Ariatu, a young secondary school student, living in Okun Alfa, Ibeju Lekki said whenever the ocean rises she is forced out of school for days while waiting for the tide to subside.
She said: “I have missed school many times because of the floods caused by the sea level rise.
“When the recent flood happened, vehicles could not access the community because the roads were under water.
“The operators of commercial motorcycles, popularly called ‘okada’, who meander some parts of the community out of town now charge between N800 and N1000.
“This has become a routine whenever it rains.”
Sekinatu, a middle-aged woman, said the flood brings with it water reptiles and diseases.
She said: “I have lost count of the number of times I have had to visit the hospital to be treated for water-borne infections.
“The flood does not just come and inundate; it also poisons our wells that we depend on for drinking water.”
Mama Dele (Idera’s wife) is more fortunate as she is still in the business of fish retailing. But at what cost?
She explained: “Sometimes, when my husband gets a fairly good catch, I take them to the market because no one comes to the house again.”
Even, when there is nothing, she goes to market to scavenge whatever she can buy to resell.
At 59, Mama Dele looks older than her age. She has piled up more flesh than necessary and she walks with difficulty. She said she experiences pain in her leg and has difficulty breathing.
“We women and our children are the most affected. The stress makes women work extra and many have come down with high BP, hypertension, and other sicknesses. Our children can no longer go to school,” she lamented.
Desmond Majekodunmi, a Lekki-based environmentalist, said climate change and other environmental hazards affect women and children more.
Majekodunmi said: “I must have said this more than a hundred times and now I feel like a broken record, though I will still say it. Climate change is man-made because we love money more than ourselves.
“We have not treated our environment well and that is why we have created this evil called climate change.
“We cut down trees for money and we are not planting new ones. We dredge the ocean and sand-filled its natural paths because we want to build mansions and cities.
“Climate is fighting back because without it we are doomed.
“We are busy building refineries and ignoring clean energies increasing carbon in the atmosphere, and we don’t know that our children will suffer it?”
MORE TALES OF WOE
Nojima Dupe, 37, a petty trader and resident of Okun Alfa-Ibeju Lekki, used to retail fresh fish in the local market.
She said she could no longer sell fish because the fishes had gone deeper into the sea and beyond the fishermen.
“The last 15 of the 30 years I have lived here has been the worst of all. The rising seawater which often leaves behind dunes has engulfed my mini shop.
“Fishing is now impossible because the fish have gone deeper into the Atlantic. People here now engage in anything to survive.”
“There was a time you could find all sizes of fish here. You would see fishermen smiling at the market and from the market to their homes. We were happier then. But the fish has gone,” she lamented.
Wumi, 74, from Mopopo village, was a wealthy fish merchant before life happened to her. Her fisherman husband built the family house and from the proceeds of her fish business, she also constructed her house.
She said: “I had my own house before. But I am now a tenant in a slum, no thanks to the dredged Atlantic Ocean that washed away my building in 2018.
I have lived here for over 22 years. I am now totally exhausted. I am depressed.”
Wumi said she depends on her children for feeding. “I ate up all the money I made when the fish business crashed. The fish business is no longer lucrative in Ibeju Lekki.”
Mama Adebisi, another aged businesswoman, said she lost everything to the ocean surge. Mrs Adebisi’s back is bent due to old age, but she is blessed with good memories and recollections of the ‘good old days’ of Elegushi.
“We did not use to have all these high fences you see everywhere now on our beaches. We entered the shores and ocean anytime we wanted, though the Omo onile (land owners) would ask strangers to pay some money, it was little, and they didn’t bother villagers and fish merchants.
“The beach now belongs to rich people and they are accessible to few who can afford it. We are now foreigners in our land.”
The Centenarian cannot boast of a home, and her children are about to move her out of the ancient waterside she has been bound to, body and soul, since birth.
WHAT SCIENTISTS SAY
Jessica Blunden, environmental scientist, said: “Earth’s temperature has risen by an average of 0.11° Fahrenheit (0.06° Celsius) per decade since 1850, or about 2° F in total. The rate of warming since 1982 is more than three times as fast: 0.36° F (0.20° C) per decade.
“Year 2023 was the warmest year since global records began in 1850 by a wide margin. It was 2.12 °F (1.18 °C) above the 20th-century average of 57.0°F (13.9°C). It was 2.43 °F (1.35 °C) above the pre-industrial average (1850-1900). The 10 warmest years in the historical record have all occurred in the past decade (2014-2023).
NIGERIA’S BURDEN
According to Corporate Accountability & Public Participation Africa (CAPPA)’s 2022 report on climate change, Africa is the most vulnerable continent to climate change impacts under climate scenarios above 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“This is the issue even though Africa contributes less than four per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its 2022 report noted that going by current trends, climate change will contribute to the global burden of diseases and premature deaths. The IPCC warned that by 2030, about 750 million Africans would be displaced.
“In 2018, Nigeria was listed among the 10 most highly vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change and natural hazards, particularly in agriculture, land use, energy, health, water resources, and biodiversity.
Nigeria’s Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development said the 2022 Climate Change induced rains and flooding which engulfed 27 out of the 36 states of the country was the worst in a decade.
Over 1.4 million people were displaced; about 500 persons died; 1,546 persons injured; 42,249 houses submerged in water; 76,168 hectares of farmlands partially destroyed and 70, 566 hectares of farmlands destroyed.”
INSULT UPON INJURY
But whatever damage climate change has done to the fishing community, the activities of the multinational companies have worsened it by rubbing salt on their injuries.
To make way for the new seaport, the seashore underwent significant dredging. It was compounded with the coming of gigantic ships from abroad berthing on the sea for days on end. They pollute the water, kill smaller fish, and drive big fish further away into the sea. Yet, the community is left with no portable water amidst plenty of water.
Idera and other local fishermen are at a disadvantage as their canoes and small boats cannot venture into the deep for fish looking for cleaner water.
THE BALKANISATION
Aside from these, the people of Ibeju Lekki and its environs are experiencing a worse form of dehumanization; the balkanization of the remaining lands and waters not ceded to the multinationals. The action has triggered indescribable poverty among the natives.
While the world is focusing on climate change and the oil extractives magnates, the remaining lands and waters are being sold to the highest bidders to be transformed into fun spots in the name of private beaches.
Before now, these beaches were frequented by the locals. Now they are reserved only for members and those who can pay the exorbitant fees, thereby keeping the already pauperised former owners out. A situation they said is detrimental to their well-being.
Idera said they used to be their getaway ground.
He said: “In the 70s and 80s, I remember my family used to fish in all these bitches. We even went there to relax and enjoy the cool breeze. They are all sold and gated to keep our children out.”
GATED BEACHES EVERYWHERE
From Ibeju Lekki to Lekki to Oniru and Elegushi abound these beaches. They are clean, expensive and gated.
Originally founded by local fishermen, these beaches have been completely taken over by the well-to-do.
THE GOOD AND BAD LIFE
There is a life in the confines of the partitions and another outside it. There are scores of these beaches and resorts spread over the coastal areas of Ibeju Lekki and its environs.
One of them is SOL Beach Resort, better known as Good Beach. It is your typical leisure home and entertainment village on the beach.
Taking up a sizable portion of the Oniru sprawling coastline, it offers a wide variety of leisure activities, shops, restaurants & an exquisite beachfront on the Atlantic.
To get to the beach, you will have to part with N7000 and the prices of food and drinks are exceptionally high. One energy drink goes for N10, 000 and the price of their cuisines is even higher.
This is not a place for locals whose daily take-homes, if he’s lucky to get one, is less than N1000.
Good Beach draws its major clients from the conglomerates. And they come in their numbers, men, women, and children every evening to take in fresh oceanic air and enjoy the good life clad in bikinis and shorts.
It is, however, not unusual to find some locals on the premises. One of them, Abraham, tends to the beach and he told the reporter that he had worked there for six months.
“I used to be a fisherman, but since I’m out of job, I was recommended by a friend who is a gateman here. I take care of the beach and ensure that it is clean all the time,” he said.
There are others like Abraham functioning as salespersons, floor keepers, restaurant attendants, and bartenders.
“The pay is not bad, and we get it on time. Sometimes you get tips that can keep you going for days,’ the father of two girls added.
There are more local girls than boys in the resort. One of them, Mary, said she works in one of the clothing shops. “There are many girls from the locality working here. We are treated well,” she said.
However, they are not protected from the advances of rich people who take advantage of them. “It depends on the girl. Some come here looking for rich boyfriends as a way out of the poverty that has permeated this land,” Mary argued.
OTHER PRIVATE BEACHES
Like SOL Beach, there are other private beaches in the area. La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort is a 65-acre beach situated along the Lekki-Epe Expressway. It is renowned as one of the best resorts in Lagos with a freshwater lake, mangrove forest, Savannah, and fine sandy beach.
To gain entry here, you have to turn your pockets inside out. It is no place for a rundown fisherman. Then, there is the Inagbe Grand Resort and La Manga Luxury Beach, Ilashe, located along the Atlantic Ocean and the island of Ilashe in Lagos.
Jaybee Beach Camp sits pretty along the Atlantic Ocean on a popular bay on the coast of Lagos. Tarkwa Bay has a clean beach and is just a couple of minutes ride from Lagos Island. Lekki Leisure Lake is another really cool destination.
The list will not be complete without Eko Tourist Beach Resort. The exquisite beach resort is located along Ibeju Lekki and about a five-minute drive from the Lekki Free Trade Zone and the Lekki International Airport.
The Atican Beach Resort is located in Ajah, Lekki, close to Eleko Beach.
Of them all, Oniru Beach located in Victoria Island is close to being called a public beach. Though owned by the influential Oniru Royal family, it is less costly than the others and can be easily accessed by locals. Even at that, it is not affordable to some locals; it is only cheaper.
ABJECT POVERTY
The abject poverty in the land is noticeable once you step out of the resort. Poverty greets you at the gates like fowl shit on the doorstep.
Local youths swarm on you waiting for crumbs and a chew of the action inside. Some operate small-time canteens that cater to gatemen and small-time workers. Others beg for money while some engage in illicit affairs such as selling drugs and prostituting. Yet, many are commercial drivers operating cabs, motorcycles, and tricycles. The rest are social miscreants out to usurp genuine service providers in the open space.
Segun, a lad of about 21, accosted me at the gate jingling a bunch of keys. He drives Keke Marwa (commercial tricycle) and services late crawlers to the beach.
Segun comes to the spot every night to scavenge for passengers and he says he only works at night because the pay is better than daytime.
“I work here in the evening. I do it every night and sometimes work late. The night charges are good because there is no traffic on the road. Sometimes I work till break of dawn before retiring for the night,” Segun said.
He said he makes between N3,000 to N6,000 every night.
“Most of my passengers charter and pay well for short distances. I charge between N500 and N600 per trip,” he said.
A teenage girl, Sandra, who hails from the eastern part of the country, was born and bred in Oniru. She speaks the local dialect perfectly and assists her middle-aged mother in one of the restaurants that litter the main gate of SOL Beach.
Sandra helps her mother to sell her food under a small canopy. “We have to pay the ‘boys’ (referring to miscreants) some money every night to operate here. If you don’t pay them, they can disrupt your business or stop you outright from selling.
“My mother operates only at night because more people come here at that time. Our clients are securities, car park attendants and beach workers who cannot afford the exorbitant food inside.”
Asked if she had ever been inside the beach? She said: “I’ve never been inside. We can’t afford the gate fee.”
EXPLOITED AND DISCARDED
The inhabitants of Ibeju Lekki say the conglomerates are not doing much to alleviate their sufferings after depriving them of their God-given resources.
During CAPPA’s interactive visit to the area, Alhaji Idris, the 70-year-old traditional ruler of Okun Alfa, said Dangote Refinery promised to help the community with money from the ecological fund. He added that the promise had not been met 20 years later.
“We had a series of meetings with the state government and representatives of Dangote Refinery before the project kicked off and while they were building.
“What the locals here contend with is disheartening. We had thought the government would do something because their projects have aggravated the climate crisis, but unfortunately, since I became the traditional ruler, all I have heard is they plan to use ecological funds to address the crisis, but nothing has been done. I am talking about 20 years now.
“What we are clamouring for is for them to alleviate our suffering by giving us electricity, and clean water and make life generally better for us. We are not asking for the world from them.”
The paramount ruler said they no longer have clean water to drink. “There are changes in water colour and it is rendered unhealthy for consumption.”
Yet, the locals don’t have other options as pipe-borne water is a mirage in the community.
Proximity to Dangote Refinery has also not improved the electricity problem of the community.
The CAPPA fact-finding team reported: “For more than 11 years, some communities in Ibeju Lekki have not seen electricity. How can one reconcile that communities close to Dangote Refinery have been without electricity for that long?
“Their businesses and commerce are down. Ironically, there is 24/4 power in the refinery because they are on an Independent Power Plant (IPP).”
DANGOTE’S CLAIMS
Devakumar Edwin, Group Executive Director, Strategy Capital Projects and Portfolio Development, Dangote Industries Limited, said the company has been supporting its host community in the area of education, and provision of infrastructure.
“We are keen to develop, educate and empower local youth and we are achieving these objectives through various interventions such as the award of scholarships to 50 students selected across our host communities as well as the training of 200 young people in several vocational skill areas such as plumbing, electrification, carpentry, welding, and others.
“The second phase of this training programme commenced in September 2022 and we are training another batch of 200 local youth drawn from different communities covering Ibeju-Lekki and Epe local government area. We installed 14 boreholes in our host communities between 2017 and 2018 and we conducted regular lab tests to ensure the water from the boreholes is potable. We also awarded scholarships to 460 students of secondary schools and tertiary institutions from its host communities in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos State as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.
“Also in 2022, we constructed and donated a multi-million naira modern block of classrooms to Abejoye village of Ibeju Lekki,” he added.
COMPENSATION
Akorede said the conglomerates should compensate the villagers for the untold hardship they caused.
“We want the sum of N100 billion. They should also employ my people. Every year, they should give us something to take care of our children.
“On our part, we will leave the water for them. Our community’s population is over 20,000 and about 6,000 people are affected by their activities.”
As this reporter bid farewell to Idera and his wife, he continued to look aloft. Certainly, he couldn’t shake off thoughts of the past.
