In a summarized-profiling manner, I’d like you to see imaginatively, the stretched coastline across the south-south axis: Lagos State occupies a strategically important position on Nigeria’s southwestern coast. Its barrier-lagoon system includes areas around Lekki and Badagry and supports extensive commercial, residential and maritime activity. The state is also home to major port infrastructure that connects Nigeria to international shipping and trade networks. Ogun State has a relatively short coastal frontage, but its proximity to Lagos and its connection to the western lagoon system, give it strategic importance within the broader coastal economy. Ondo State is characterised by the Mahin mud coast, with historic shoreline communities such as Araromi. Its coastline supports fishing, farming and other activities that depend heavily on the coastal and lagoon environment. Edo State, although having a comparatively limited direct coastline, is influenced by estuarine and low-lying wetland systems, connected to the wider Niger Delta. These waterways, form part of the ecological and economic network linking inland communities with the coast. Delta State is defined by an extensive network of rivers, creeks and rivulets. It is also a major centre of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, making its waterways important for local communities, energy production, transportation and energy industrial activities. Bayelsa State is one of Nigeria’s most water-dominated territories. Its landscape is characterised by dense mangrove forests, creeks, rivers and tidal channels, connected to the Atlantic. Communities in many parts of the state, rely heavily on fishing, transportation and other water-based economic activities. Rivers State, with Port Harcourt as its principal commercial centre, it occupies a critical position within Nigeria’s maritime and industrial economy. Its extensive waterways, ports and proximity to major oil and gas facilities, make the state one of the country’s most important coastal economic hubs. Akwa Ibom State has a substantial Atlantic frontage, with beaches, estuaries, wetlands and fishing communities, forming important components of its coastal economy. Its location also gives it strategic relevance to maritime trade and the emerging blue economy. Cross River State extends Nigeria’s eastern coastline towards the maritime boundary with Cameroon, with Calabar serving as an important historic port and commercial centre. The state’s coastal environment combines beaches, estuaries, mangrove systems and river networks.
As the ocean visited the land like a shack-loan debt collector lately, houses collapsed into the water. Moreover, roads and public facilities are disappearing. Fishing points are becoming harder to reach, families are repeatedly being forced to abandon their ancestral homes. Coastal erosion is no longer an environmental story discussed at different points anymore, than it’s a daily struggle over survival, securing land and belongings, for residents in this locations.
The crisis is being driven by a combination of rising sea levels, stronger coastal surges and accelerating shoreline erosion. Low-lying communities around the coastal line are particularly vulnerable, as the sea encroaches on land that provided a natural buffer. And irrespective of the numerous reports making rounds, climate change is only part of the story.
Human activity has progressively altered the delicate system that protects Nigeria’s coastline. Sand dredging can remove material that would otherwise help replenish beaches. Expanding cities, roads and other coastal infrastructure, can interfere with natural drainages and sediment movement. Upstream dams may also reduce the amount of sediment reaching the coast, while decades of oil exploration, pollution and mangrove destruction, have also weakened important natural barriers. All of these factors, result into a coastline that is gradually being exposed to the force of the Atlantic.
