Sagbokodji: Apapa seaport neighbour where life is cruel

Sagbokodji Island is not one that quickly resonates with many residents of Lagos though it had been in existence for over a century. The community, one of the 34 riverine communities in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos, is bounded by the Apapa seaport, though this proximity has in no way helped the community to grow.

Sagbokodji is a community of over 100, 000 people and a combination of six communities on an island: Bishop Kodji, Lede, Akponawa, Whlakodji and Ganviekodji. The original residents of the Island are predominantly Egun people who are claimed to have ties with the historical and ancient town of Badagry. But today, the community is a potpourri of tribes as residents now cut across various ethnicities.

A visit to the community, even for a first time visitor effortlessly reveals its poor living conditions; it is a community with all forms of disadvantages, which give signs of being forgotten while sitting in the middle of development. In Sagbokodji, the poor living condition is palpable; there is no potable water, there had never been electricity supply, inadequate health and educational facilities, environmental challenges, continuous pollution from ship waste and consistent threat of eviction among other issues.

The main source of livelihood in this community is fishing; indeed life revolves around this occupation, the men fish and the women process fish locally with heat from firewood stoves to be sold as smoked fish outside the community. As a result of this routine, the cloud around Sagbokodji community is continually dense from the smoke emanating from the homes.

Though Sagbokodji is an island, there is a dearth of potable water and people go long distances to buy water. A resident told Nigerian Tribune that they spend N500 daily on water for an average family.

“Water is gold here; getting water is a long journey. I spend at least N500 on a daily basis to get water for my family. If you have money, you don’t have to go yourself, you buy from people that push it round but that is more expensive. We do not like it here; we know it is not an ideal situation because we spend money to charge phones and only the rich that have generator have light. But we do not have a choice, we are here because it is cheaper, rent is cheap and flexible because landlords here do not stress us. you can pay on installment basis and with N20, 000 to N30, 000 annually, you get a good space,” Hauwa Hammed stated.

• 2019 budget’ll be hard to implement ― Buhari

As a result, the main source of light is kerosene lamps and residents usually used the local tin ones popularly known as kufin or atupa. Many children on the island have lived all their lives believing that the only source of light one can get is from the popular small petrol powered generator which is referred to as “I better pass my neighbour” or the light that floods the community when cargo ships arrive the shores of the Apapa wharf at night.

And for a community which is said to have been in existence since Nigeria’s amalgamation in 1914, the story of Sagbokodji is not a success narration; no light, no water, no roads, poorly managed health centre with no doctor, drugs or medical equipment, this continues to be the experience of the people who have never had a respite from the continuous struggle of living a better life. Yet, voting materials get to their community when it is time for election.

“We have over the years gotten used to promises of upgrade that never materialises. Life here is terrible but we stay because we have no alternative, government needs to remember us here as they remember us during the election. We are told to vote for them and they will upgrade us but once election is over, that’s the end. There’s even no unity in the area. The environment is polluted, we have few schools so children go outside the island, they have to cross the water to Apapa daily to school, the few schools here do not have enough competent teachers and we have lost many lives to the water, there are not enough life jackets for the children,” Monday, a resident stated.

Nigerian Tribune found that the community also has major issues bordering on eviction by the Nigerian Ports Authority and the threat of eviction seems to be the major concern in the area as many of the residents evacuated from other areas to Sagbokodji, so the fear of being sent away again gives them nightmare.

“Many people moved here after having issues in other areas; they live here and work outside. So the fear of having to move is real and here, the threat of eviction is like the sword of Damocles hanging on our head. You can imagine living in such conditions and still entertaining fear of eviction. It is a nightmare, many residents had big dreams of setting up businesses but the lack of power supply to this island killed those dreams because there is little you can do without light. Using a generator to power a business full time is an invitation to bankruptcy. So we charge our phones from those that have generating set at N50 and we go over there to watch soccer at N100. Even those that use it to operate business ration the use to save fuel consumption,” Samuel Baba, another resident stated.

Nigerian Tribune further found that the area, a sand filled community has two boreholes that had never been functional because of the topography of the land. And in its 100 years of existence, well meaning bodies have tried to change the situation in Sagbokodji. In 2015, some residents for the first time in their long years on the island, got electricity. For them, it was like a dream come true when an organisation used solar to power some homes. The solar power project gave the beneficiaries the chance to dream big and think big in terms of business opportunity.

But it was a dream that didn’t last as only five homes out of the almost 300 dwelling units in the neighbourhood benefited. The power supply to the homes was provided under a pilot initiative of a firm called Arnergy, whose head, Femi Adeyemo, took after finding out that the community existed for about 100 years without electricity.

The project then enabled users to pay N100, N200, N300 or N500 daily for a 24-hour constant power supply. When Arnergy set out to light up Sagbokodji Island in 2105, it was based on the belief that they would get support from other people but promises were not fulfilled; there were many homes and solar panels cost a lot of money to import. And the project in a way stalled with many residents in the community hopeful that their homes will be installed with solar power in the next phase of the project. And while they waited for Arnergy to get the required financial support to continue the light up Sagbokodji project, it seems the first stage also fizzled out and all homes went back to a blackout condition because few months back when another organization, Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability Initiative for Africa (REES Africa), a youth led nonprofit initiative that advocates for environmental sustainability across all target audience and provides renewable energy access for rural and marginalised communities visited, there was no light of light in Sagbokodji.

Indeed, REES Africa met the community lighted with local kerosene lamps with few homes depending on generating set with residents complaining of fire outbreaks as a result accidents with lamps during the night. This  was how the light up Sagbokodji by REES Africa was birthed.

And from April 14 to April 16, REES Africa was in Sagbokodji and surrounding communities; Bishop Kodji, Whlakodji, Akpononawa and Ganviekodji which is the poorest area in the community to carry out its light up project in a bid to make life easier.

Speaking with Nigeria Tribune, the founder of REES Africa, Yetunde Fadeyi stated that, “there are a lot of things wrong with the community, from energy poverty to lack of many amenities especially a secondary school. This is a community that has not experienced electricity since time immemorial. They need electricity, financial inclusion, toilet facilities, waste management system, security and secondary school education.

And at the end of the exercise, REES Africa lit up over 60 pro poor households in the five communities via a strategic approach and gave the some people in the community a new lease of life.

But for Sagbokodji community however, nothing has changed as only 60 houses out of over 10,000 households now have light meaning the dark cloud is not likely to depart from the community for a while. For the residents, light remains a mirage, water is still scarce and life is one filled with disadvantages in a mega city.