Resilience for Water Justice

Last week PPDF in partnership with the Blue Community, Africa went to the Ayetoro Community in the Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, Nigeria for a Water Justice Campaign tagged, “Building Resilience for Water Justice”.

The interventions started with advocacy meeting with the Ayetoro Council of elders.

Ayetoro, a coastal oil- producing community with fishing as the only source of livelihoods are currently facing severe environmental and water justice crisis due to aggressive Atlantic ocean surges with an estimated 80 percent sea levels submerge of the city with massive destructions including worship centers, schools, health posts and causing serious threats to livelihoods of the fishers.

Impact of years of crude oil exploration and other industrial activities are potential triggers of the aggressive surges and water pollution in Ayetoro.

Water Justice is a concept that seeks to address the disproportionate impact of water-related challenges on marginalized communities, ensuring equitable access to clean water and sanitation for everyone.

Principles of Water Justice involved:

This shows that water is not a charity but a constitutional responsibility, a public service, a development issue as well as a Justice issue.

Prior to the engagement, PPDF obtained basic facts that hinder the good people of Ayetoro from achieving Water Justice in their community.

This is largely due to decades of oil extractions occasioned by oil spills as well as failures by the government at Federal, State and Local levels.

For instance, the Ondo State Government under the Ondo State Water Corporation in 2025 budgeted the sum of #30 million for the Rehabilitation and Solarization of Ayetoro Borehole Water Scheme with a reported expenditure of #27.9 million with no project visible at the community even at the time of visit.

The public can also fact check here on the website of the federal government: Ondo State 2026 Budget Document (see page 94).

The government position is that the money was spent but the Ayetoro Community members can’t confirm or point to such a project within their community.

Besides, the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs in 2026 budgeted an amount of #91.38 million for construction of Embankment at Ayetoro to save the community from water encroachment yet nothing of such exists within Ayetoro.

However, such an amount can provide safe drinking water and sanitation to Ayetoro and other Communities in Ilaje Local Government Area.

At the Local Government level, the 2026 Ilaje Budget contains water projects in many communities.

In Page 121 to 122 of the Ilaje Local Budget, Water projects have been provided for many communities including the amounts as listed below:

However, Ayetoro does not have any listed projects in the 2026 Local Government Budget.

The community had a N10 million project in 2025 tagged ” Ayetoro Community and Idi- Ogba Sea Shoreline Protection at N10 million.

Ayetoro community members confirmed non-existence of such a project in any part of community.

Citizens of Ayetoro are not asking for special treatment, they are simply asking for water and Environmental Justice in their domain.