‘The sea took everything away’: how Nigeria’s ‘Happy City’ is disappearing beneath the waves

Ayetoro, a Nigerian coastal community founded in the 1940s, is rapidly disappearing due to coastal erosion and rising sea levels. More than half of the settlement has already been lost to the Atlantic Ocean, forcing residents to confront the loss of their homes and livelihoods. In a notable incident on February 15, 2019, Arowo Victoria, a 60-year-old retired midwife, lost her small shop to the sea, a business she had established with borrowed funds after retirement. The encroaching ocean has submerged buildings and infrastructure, leaving the remaining inhabitants with dwindling options for survival and relocation. The community, originally envisioned as a Christian utopia, now faces an existential threat from environmental changes, highlighting the vulnerability of coastal populations to climate impacts. Residents are grappling with the profound consequences of losing their ancestral lands and community structures, with many facing displacement and economic hardship.