Akassa

{{Short description|Town and settlement in Nigeria}}

{{for|the language|Akassa language}}

{{Use Nigerian English|date=January 2023}}

File:Akassa on a John Bartholomew & Co. map published c. 1914 (part).jpg map published c. 1914.]]

File:British stamps used at Akassa.jpg

Akassa, is an Ijaw town at the southernmost tip of Nigeria in Bayelsa State{{Cite web |title=Bayelsa State Government – The Glory of all Lands |url=https://bayelsastate.gov.ng/ |access-date=2022-03-10 |language=en-US}} where the Nun River estuary meets the Atlantic Ocean.{{Cite web|title=Nun River {{!}} river, Nigeria|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Nun-River|access-date=2021-09-14|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}} It has a lighthouse that has stood since 1910, Akassa Lighthouse.{{cite web |title=Since 1910, a Lighthouse in the Creeks |url=https://folio.ng/since-1910-a-lighthouse-in-the-creeks/ |website=Folio Nigeria |accessdate=17 August 2020}}

The proximity of Akassa to the Atlantic {{Cite web |title=World Edition |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=The Atlantic |language=en-US}} has made it a traditional trading site in Nigeria and during British colonial years it was the site of an outpost of the Royal Niger Company. Taxes imposed by the company on local peoples caused the settlement at Akassa to be attacked in 1895."Royal Niger Company" in Encyclopædia Britannica, Online Library Edition, 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.

In the heart of the Niger Delta,{{Cite web |date=2021-06-27 |title=Niger Delta Avengers threaten return, vow to crash economy |url=https://guardian.ng/news/niger-delta-avengers-threaten-return-vow-to-crash-economy/ |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News |language=en-US}} habitation in the general region is sandwiched between salt water and the brackish water of mangrove swamps and most locals make their living from fishing or small scale trading, or by providing services to multi-national oil companies{{Cite web |title=Company - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms |url=https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/company |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=Vocabulary.com |language=en-US}} active in the area.{{Cite web|title=Mangrove destruction by oil in Niger Delta {{!}} WRM in English|url=https://wrm.org.uy/articles-from-the-wrm-bulletin/section1/mangrove-destruction-by-oil-in-niger-delta/|access-date=2021-09-14|website=wrm.org.uy}} There are few roads and no electricity. Health and educational facilities {{Cite web |title=Facilitate - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms |url=https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/facilitate |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=Vocabulary.com |language=en-US}} are few and most people do not have access to clean water.

More recently, the Akassa Development {{Cite web |title=Development - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms |url=https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/development |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=Vocabulary.com |language=en-US}} Foundation was formed in conjunction with Pro-Natura International, Statoil and BP to build local capacity.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/325313.stm The Akassa approach] by John Egan, BBC News, 22 April 1999.[http://www.statoil.com/AnnualReport2008/en/Sustainability/Society/Pages/5-6-3-3-3_CommunityDevelopmentInNigeria.aspx Community development in Nigeria. Akassa: Community development through empowerment] Statoil Annual Report 2008, Statoil, 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2013. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201603/http://www.statoil.com/AnnualReport2008/en/Sustainability/Society/Pages/5-6-3-3-3_CommunityDevelopmentInNigeria.aspx Archived here.]