How People Live in Nigeria’s Floating Slum

Makoko is one of the most extreme examples of urban survival on Earth. Built on stilts above a polluted lagoon in Lagos, this floating slum is home to tens of thousands of people living without roads, sanitation, or formal recognition from the city.

This documentary explores how Makoko came to exist, how homes are built over water, how residents find clean water, work, education, and stability—and what their future reveals about the growing crisis of urban housing worldwide.

This documentary explores how Makoko came to exist, how homes are built over water, how residents find clean water, work, education, and stability—and what their future reveals about the growing crisis of urban housing worldwide.

🕒 Timestamps

00:00 Life above water — introduction to Makoko
00:40 Where Makoko is and how it formed
01:24 Origins: fishing families and migration
02:01 Informal land ownership and community rules
02:36 How stilt houses are built without blueprints
03:56 Daily life shaped by water
04:41 Drinking water, pollution, and disease
06:19 Floods, storms, and fire emergencies
07:59 Work and income on the lagoon
08:54 Education and the floating school
09:50 Evictions and conflict with the city
10:40 What Makoko tells us about the future of housing


Watch our other videos on extreme housing:

Life in a 9m² Tokyo Apartment
   • Life in a 9m² Tokyo Apartment  







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