Review of British Broadcasting Corporation Documentary titled: Welcome to Lagos

 “….despite its reputation for corruption, poverty, Lagos is not all like that you know, these people will show you ghetto life; they have learnt to be smart, resourceful, they are hustlers because here, nothing is wasted and everything is an opportunity……” excerpt from Episode 1 Part 1

Abuja replaced Lagos as the capital of Nigeria in December 12, 1991, but Lagos is still the largest city in the country with a population of over 16 million inhabitants out of which about three-quarter (¾) lives in slums.  A BBC documentary titled ‘Welcome to Lagos’ examined a number of the slums in Lagos and presented findings in a three part documentary. The documentary highlighted how numerous city dwellers of Lagos—Lagosians, live in the city. People examined included scavengers, cattle dealers, scrap traders, sawmill workers, anglers, sand dealers, and public officials in the Lagos State Special Offences and Enforcement Unit.

The documentary has generated many public reactions, which can be divided into two.  The first category features people who tend to praise the BBC for producing the documentary—this first group of people is critical of government for creating the slums and forcing people to live in sub-human standards.  They believe the documentary will shame the government and force them to do something positive for marginalized citizens; considering the enormous wealth accruing to the country and the state, it must be government responsibility to improve general living standards in Nigeria. The second category is those who expressed distaste for the documentary stating that is it not a fair representation of Lagos, given that there are well-developed and habitable communities like Ikeja, Aja, Victoria Island, and Ikoyi in the city under review. According to the former Information and Communications Minister, Professor Dora Akunyili, the documentary is in bad taste—she said that the government of Nigeria views the documentary as a deliberate attempt to denigrate the dignity of Nigeria in the international community and to create fear in the minds of tourists and potential investors in the country. She requested that the BBC should remove the documentary from further circulation. In addition, Nigeria’s most revered Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, referred to the documentary as ‘patronizing and condescending.’

One would think that slums in Lagos, as elsewhere in the developing world, are lawless and ruthless.  But the opposite is the case.  The documentary showed the slums as organized and legitimate institution; they have leaders and have mechanisms for peaceful coexistence.  The slums run on trust and the dwellers show respect for one another. The slum dwellers share all human values of love for family and quest for better life—and because of this, are willing to undertake tasks even in most degrading circumstances, circumstances that can also pose high health and security risks.

 

A majority of slum dwellers in Lagos fends for itself.  In the absence of any government support for basic amenities at the mainstream, members have to make provision for their basic needs including provisions for health, shelter, social welfare and security.  Amazingly, about 5000 Lagosians are self-employed on the dumpsite, while innumerable Lagosians are kept busy trading on various things:  butchers sell more than meat; they trade the hoof and even the content of the cow stomach as fertilizer; the blood is sold to poultry keepers as feed. There is a simple logs trading business in the slums that also employs a number of citizens as loggers, sawmill workers, and as furniture makers.

 

The documentary also covers a story about initiatives by the government:  the current government in Lagos state has embarked on a ‘mega city project’ with a view to transforming Lagos into the Singapore of Africa. This project seeks a total revamping of infrastructure in the state; and has institutionalized periodic and mandatory sanitation exercises to keep the city clean. An agency called the ‘Lagos State Special Offences and Enforcement Units’ is given the responsibility of enforcing rules and helping the traditional police force in the maintenance of order in the city of Lagos. 

Nevertheless, critics have continued to argue that the BBC documentary, ‘Welcome to Lagos,’ tends to focus much more attention on the slums of the city.  However, much is also said in the feature about the resourcefulness of the slum dwellers—their determination to survive is also well documented and articulated.  In the event, little is mentioned about the efforts of the state government and its current initiatives to revamp the economic activities in the city.   Overall, the documentary is an important piece of research that should be made available for viewing by policy makers, legislatures, students, and all those interesting in understanding how the other half of our deprived citizens irk out their living at the margins or fringes of the Nigerian society.

Pictures from Emn News.com and Connect Nigeria