Ayetoro: Ondo community lost to the sea and betrayal

This is Ayetoro, my hometown. It is an oil-producing coastal community in Ilaje, Ondo State. The buildings you see are part of the old palace of the community leader. This palace was at the center of town. Now, all the houses, facilities, and infrastructure that made it a city center have disappeared.

Opposite this palace was Oyetomi Street. My father’s house was No. 5 on that street. It was one of the three largest private homes in Ayetoro. That house and many others have been swallowed by the sea. Doctors, a lawyer, engineers, an accountant, an economist, a Permanent Secretary, and other professionals were raised in that house. My father passed the baton to our mothers, and we later moved out. That place will always be home in our hearts.

For the last 30 years, our fortune has turned upside down. The sea has been violent and intrusive.

Since 1999, while I was a student at OAU, I led a campaign to get the federal and state governments to protect our shores and homes. They were silent. They were evasive. They took our oil every day and got our votes during elections.

In 2001, I invited journalists to Ayetoro. They came, and the sea incursion was reported. At that time, only a few places were affected, but we could see it would get worse if not stopped. A journalist there advised us to write to the government. Many of our people were complacent, so I invited Oluwafemi Olorunlola, and we founded the Ayetoro Community Youth Council (ACYC) with a few others. We wrote to the government under that name. We sent two letters to the presidency under Obasanjo and one to the National Assembly through Prince Olu Mafo, who represented our Federal Constituency.

When we did not get a response, in 2002, I reached out to Punch again. I visited AIT, and its then head of reporting, Mr Odafe Othihiwa, sent some journalists to Ayetoro.

After much pressure from us and media coverage, the NDDC awarded the contract for the embankment and shore protection of Ayetoro Community. But it was a sham. The project never started. The money was stolen, and no one was probed. We shouted loudly, but nothing was done.

We began another round of agitation. I brought Punch again around 2004. Mr Kunle Owolabi was the reporter sent, and he did a fantastic two-page report. I also invited Tell Magazine. Juwon Soyinka, who later worked with the BBC, was sent by Tell.

Some Ilaje politicians were involved in the fraud. Some Ayetoro indigenes, who had little education, benefited from the leftovers.

Then in 2009, the NDDC awarded the contract again to a company that only came to view the Atlantic. It collected billions of naira and did nothing. The government failed to probe the company or hold the politicians accountable despite our agitation.

Since 2009, the sea changed its approach. It began to rapidly intrude into Ayetoro's built-up areas. The beach road, which was at the end of town, was washed away and the houses nearby disappeared.

After that, Happy City College was swallowed, the primary school was eaten, the decades-old Information Centre and City Hall were lost to the sea, followed by the old church. The textile and shoe factories also went.

I wrote to the NDDC about it. The community engaged the commission, but it did nothing. I reached out to friends and journalist colleagues.

Premium Times came and reported the sad situation. My friend Mojeed Alabi visited during the peak of the rain in 2019. He was soaked when he came to cover Ayetoro. He made two more visits to report on the sad event to push the government to act. I visited the BBC office in 2020, even during COVID-19. I met Juwon Soyinka, who was surprised the problem still existed after so many years.

That was his last month at the BBC before moving to another media house. The BBC sent Andrew Gift to cover Ayetoro using modern technology, including a drone. Sadly, some people in the Ondo State government tried to suppress the report. After almost a year of follow-up, the BBC published it in 2021.

Since then, the community leadership has worked hard to find a solution. The community has written to the government and NGOs. It has invited media houses to cover the issue. Almost all media houses in Nigeria have reported on Ayetoro, once a beautiful tourist hub from the 60s to the 80s. But none could save Ayetoro.

Now, all the monuments our fathers built are gone. The last is the block palace you see in the video, and the sea has taken over its courtyard and is attacking its surrounding areas. The ground floor is fully under the sea. In short, the palace is gone.

About 80 percent of the buildings in Ayetoro are gone, and about 96 percent of the valuable homes are lost.

All this happened because many people looked on while politicians stole from us. Every past or present representative of Ondo State on the board of NDDC is guilty. Some were part of the fraud against Ayetoro. Others helped to cover it up or looked away. They are all traitors. Those Ayetoro indigenes who took envelopes when the Ayetoro Embankment and Shore Protection Project was discussed with contractors and politicians, and later called me and my team names, you now see the result of your actions.

I write this so that the truth will not be lost even if the struggle fails. Ayetoro will always be a scar on the conscience of our politicians. Its remnants will haunt our nation of heartless leaders.