‘Waiting for a miracle’

Island asks for equal chance

Eromo Egbejule

For the estimated 2,000 residents of Refuge Island, life sometimes feels like that of a refugee. A dozen communities live on the island, which lies in a lagoon on the eastern fringes of Lagos and takes its name from the arrival of enslaved people fleeing the hinterland of western Nigeria in the 19th century. The island has never had electricity, and there are no tarred roads. For power, its residents, mostly fishers or farmers, use generators running on fuel that has become costly since a subsidy was scrapped two years ago. Water, which comes from the Lekki Lagoon – a site for open defecation as there are no toilet facilities – and wells, is poured on to improvised filters consisting of old cloths spread on basins. The island has never…

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Guardian Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, 14 February 2025

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