Joel Olatunde AGOI -
Traffic jams on the snarled up roads of Nigeria’s megacity of Lagos are legendary, but a growing problem is also clogging up the waterways of Africa’s biggest city — water hyacinths.
The spread of the invasive species of fast-growing plant is not only damaging transport links in Nigeria’s economic capital, built on a lagoon dotted with islands.
With waterways covered and silting up, the aquatic weed is also threatening fishing jobs and a vital food source.
“This is all I can get since morning,” said fisherman Solomon Omoyajowo, showing a handful of fish in a bowl in his wooden canoe. The 45-year-old fisherman has already been forced to move his nets from one part of the Ogun river too thick with weeds, to a new area nearer the sea.
“Many fishermen have abandoned their boats, while some of us who still want to continue, now try our luck here,” he said, using his palms to wipe a stream of sweat from his face.
“Water hyacinths are killing the fish in the river,” said another nearby fisherman, Adisa, as he cast his net into the river.
When he hauled it up, he had caught only four small fish.
“I don’t think I can do any other job apart from fishing,” Adisa said. “I will continue to manage until the government comes to our aid to clear the weeds.”
Originally from South America, the plant has caused chaos across several countries in Africa. Earlier this year, a thick green carpet of the weed choked up Kenya’s main entry to Lake Victoria, the largest body of water in Africa.
It was first noted in Nigeria in the early 1980s, in the Badagry creeks west of Lagos, reportedly spreading from neighbouring Benin. Since then, mats of weeds have spread to rivers across the country, including Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger delta.
Fishermen say the weed is so thick it creates a dense cover that makes it difficult for fishing boats to navigate the river. It is having a damaging impact.
One study, from Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo University, estimated it put at risk one-third of Nigeria’s local fish supply, a cheap source of food millions rely on. That threatens to put thousands of fishermen out of a job.
“It has become a menace to the marine ecosystems of Lagos,” said Nkechi Ajayi, spokeswoman from Lagos State Waterways Authority, adding that it impacted “the socio-economic activities” of river communities. — AFP
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