The Ilaje Nation, once anchored proudly along Nigeria’s Atlantic corridor, is now being ravaged by a devastating convergence of environmental collapse and governmental neglect. From the sinking coastlines of Ayetoro to the crumbling churches of Awoye, our communities are vanishing — swallowed by the unforgiving ocean and suffocated by political silence.
This is not a crisis in waiting. It is a catastrophe in motion.
Ilaje land is witnessing coastal erosion of up to 30 meters per year, threatening the survival of entire settlements, uprooting thousands of indigenous people, and endangering centuries of heritage. Fishing routes are disrupted. Water sources are salinated. Youth are migrating. Hope is eroding with the land.
More painful still is the continuing exile of the Apata Obe people, a proud community under the Ugbo Kingdom, who have remained displaced from their ancestral land for decades following the Ilaje–Ijaw intertribal conflict. Despite countless peaceful engagements, letters, meetings, and appeals to authorities — their calls for justice and resettlement have been met with persistent indifference.
This cannot stand.
We therefore issue this urgent call to the Governor of Ondo State, His Excellency Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, to:
1. Declare a Climate Emergency for Ilaje land and immediately commission a long-term shoreline protection master plan.
2. Mobilize both federal and international partnerships to launch comprehensive climate adaptation infrastructure, prioritizing Ayetoro, Gbagira, Awoye, and other endangered coastal communities.
3. Lead a coordinated effort to return the people of Apata Obe to their ancestral home, with state guarantees of peace, justice, security, and dignity.
4. Reposition Ilaje as a frontline geography in Nigeria’s climate resilience strategy — not just an oil-producing region but a sinking homeland whose survival is now a moral and political imperative.
Ilaje is not asking for handouts — we are demanding what is just. We want policy, protection, and presence from a government we have faithfully supported for decades. To remain silent in the face of these twin crises is not only a failure of leadership — it is a betrayal of the people.
Ilaje must not drown unheard. Apata Obe must not remain exiled. The time to act is now.
Signed:
Kunle Odusola-Stevenson
Lagos, Nigeria
