Water Baby

Author/Guide: Chioma Okereke

Why a Booktrail?

She’s the Pearl of Makoko and the world is her oyster.

ISBN: 978-1529425406
Genre: Fiction, Inspired by true events

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What you need to know before your trail

In Makoko, the floating slum off mainland Lagos, Nigeria, nineteen-year-old Baby yearns for an existence where she can escape the future her father has planned for her.

With opportunities scarce, Baby jumps at the chance to join a newly launched drone-mapping project, aimed at broadening the visibility of her community.

Then a video of her at work goes viral and Baby finds herself with options she could never have imagined – including the possibility of leaving her birthplace to represent Makoko on the world stage.

But will life beyond the lagoon be everything she’s dreamed of? Or has everything she wants been in front of her all along?

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Travel Guide

Makoko

Makoko is a informal settlement across the 3rd Mainland Bridge located on the coast of mainland Lagos. A third of the community is built on stilts along the lagoon and the rest is on the land.

Makoko is sometimes referred to as the “Venice of Africa” owing to its waterways. There are thought to be some 85,840

In July 2012, the Lagos State government ordered that some of the stilts beyond the power lines be brought down. Families were not given notice or help and so many homes were destroyed. As a result, many were left homeless.