Makoko is a nineteenth-century fishing neighborhood and major small-scale business hub in Lagos, Nigeria. An estimated 250,000 people1 live there, on top of stilted housing on water and concrete structures on land. Following a demolition in 2012, the community’s baales (chiefs) and the Lagos state government signed a memorandum of understanding in 2014. The memorandum of understanding stipulated, among other provisions, the removal of structures within 100 m of the high-voltage power line that traverses Makoko. There are only speculations about why the government broke the memorandum of understanding, which held for almost 11 years.

Source: The Guardian February 25, 2026 10:20 UTC