Chioma Okereke

Water Baby

She's the Pearl of Makoko and the world is her oyster.

Cover image

In Makoko, the floating slum off mainland Lagos, Nigeria, nineteen-year-old Baby yearns for an existence where she can escape the future her father has planned for her.

With opportunities scarce, Baby jumps at the chance to join a newly launched drone-mapping project, aimed at broadening the visibility of the informal settlement and her community.

When a video of her at work goes viral, Baby finds herself with options she could never have imagined – including the possibility of leaving her birthplace to represent Makoko on the world stage.

But will life beyond the lagoon be everything she’s dreamed of? Or has everything she wants been in front of her all along?