Lagos State Government said it has concluded plans to rebuild Makoko by constructing a housing estate on the waterfront. Makoko is a slum area with an estimated population of about 100,000 people living in squalor and poor sanitary conditions, with structures constructed on stilts above the Lagos lagoon.

Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Toyin Ayinde, who disclosed this, said the development will help curb the decay in the ghetto. He said the housing scheme would be patterned after Lake Union Seattle in the United States where houses are built on water in an organised manner. He noted that the daily migration of people to Lagos has continued to impact negatively on accommodation issues in Lagos.

“As a result of this, a lot of unplanned settlements and encroachments on both land and water by these immigrants have become a burden. The houses built on the Lagos lagoon overtime in the Makoko area continued unabated and soon became worrisome due to the speedy and fast encroachment on this waterway and further extension towards the PHCN high tension cable on the lagoon. Consequently, the ministry found it expedient to undertake a study of this development and tagged it ‘Houses on Water’,” he explained.

The commissioner said the project will improve and enhance the living condition of the residents; control development on the waterways; increase the potential of the community economically; protect the highly valued waterfront against pollution and widespread contamination; enhance water transportation and promote tourism.

He added that schools, hospital, bank, shopping mall and fish processing plants would also be built on the lagoon. He said government had held stakeholders’ engagements with the occupants to secure their support and opinion on the proposed project, with a view to building their trust in the government’s plan for the community.