Foremost Environmentalist, Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, has said that his latest book titled, ’I see the Invisible’, a collection of poetry about environmental issues is in solidarity with the people of Makoko community of Lagos State.
Bassey disclosed this as one of the reasons for having the public presentation of the book that dwells much on climate impact in Makoko among the affected people on Wednesday. The event, was another visit of the author to the local community where he is now a regular face after over a dozen times of visiting.
Makoko, according to him is a story of resilience. After a running battle with climate change, governments threats of displacement is another concern of the people who would have expected succor from same government.
According to the human rights activist, “Makoko represents virtually all the environmental challenges that we have in Nigeria, except desertification. We have sea rise, we have water pollution, we have sanitation problem, we have lack of portable water and lack of power supply.
“Everything that should not happen in a community happens here which is not because of the fault of the people but because of crass neglect by the system,“ he said, stating further that, seeing that the collection of the poems are mostly about environmental issues, Makoko becomes the primary place proposed for the book presentation.
On what the book launch in Makoko hopes to achieve, Bassey said: “The book launch brings up the issues that the community is confronting in terms of the displacement that is always hanging in the air.
“We are also hoping that the children who performed some cultural displays during this event, will be inspired to become writers in poetry, in drama and to stand up and defend their community and project the positive image of our nation,” he stated.
Bassey, a recipient of the 2024 Wallenberg Medal, the first Nigerian and 5th African to get the award, said the Lagos government should be sensitive to the fact that Makoko is symbolic of Nigeria.
“I want to see a government that will invest in Makoko to upgrade the place, give a facelift, provide all the facilities needed for living in dignity and living a life that we all dream of. Makoko should be like the Venice of Nigeria.
“People go to Venice in Italy to see how the people are living above water. We have a prime example here and we are hoping that our politicians will open their eyes and begin to support this community,” he said.
The human rights activist however called for legislation against land reclamation because of its negative impact on the environment.
“Nigeria has a coastline of about 845 kilometres. Every community along the coastline faces serious challenges. But Makoko people have built their houses above water and the houses are surviving. We should learn from how they are living. This is adaptation to climate impact.
“Nigerian government some times, when they see environmental problem, the first thing they think of is demolition. Demolition is weakening our people, it is weakening our community. Resilience means supporting the community, building their capacity and building infrastructure that are climate proof. We should stop sand filling or sand dredging.
“People talk about reclaiming land. You don’t reclaim land, you are destroying the land by destroying the place that soak water when there is a rain fall. So, we should actually have a law that stops the so called reclamation of land across the coastline of Nigeria,” he suggested.
Executive Director of CEE-HOPE, the organisation that has facilitated Bassey“s several visits to Makoko, Betty Abah who is also a child rights activist and author, reviewed the book, which is Bassey’s 17th poem collections. The author also has over 20 published works.
Abah commended Bassey’s prolific nature despite his busy schedule around the world, in activism against the pollution of the environment
“He has a deep love for Makoko and he has visited the community 13 times within 10 years despite not being based in Lagos, plus his extremely busy schedule which involves several international travels. This event of the book launch makes it the 13th time he was visiting the community, she said.
Also at the event were community leaders from Makoko including local chiefs, fishermen and women, then children.
Dredging and sand filling exercise at the waterfront have been the major challenges of the people of Makoko whose major occupation is fishing. According to some of them, the government activity is not helping their business as fishes now move further into the high sea where the fishers have to travel further inward, a life threatening endeavour because of the capacity of their vessels.