Nigeria: Makoko Demolition – the Environmental, Human and Economic Costs of Urbanisation

[This Day] Makoko, one of Lagos’ oldest waterfront settlements, is once again at the centre of a contentious urban renewal drive that has seen homes demolished and families displaced. Officially justified as a safety measure around high-tension power lines, the exercise has revived long-standing concerns about the human, environmental and economic consequences of rapid urbanisation in Nigeria’s commercial capital, and the fate of vulnerable communities caught in its path. Esther Oluku reports