Originally published on Nigerians Talk.ORG please post your comments and views there. Thanks.
Contending against all forces
The third part of the BBC documentary, Welcome to Lagos was aired on Thursday, my reliance on the automated recording of all the episodes by my DVR 2 weeks ago failed for this one, such that I had to wait for the uploads provided courtesy of the resourceful Nigerian Curiosity – You can view all the episodes from this link – Welcome to Lagos at Nigerian Curiosity [1].
From what I saw, the real reason for this 3-part documentary was revealed in stark detail as a growing megacity where people come to seek opportunity and how their lives in the struggle for survival finds them at the mercy of other forces ready to destroy their livelihoods for the sake of some grand project of city beautification without any consideration for the people involved.
The faces of the issues
This part focused on the simple life of lady whose ambitions and dreams are built within the beach community of Kuramo where she faces the joys of marriage, the problems of spousal infidelity, the constant threats of expulsion by the government by the untrammelled remit of a Task Force, the force of nature depicted in surges of high tide sea flooding and the desire for a better lot in life.
The converse of this life was the face of the authorities – once a member of the National Dance Troupe – charged with cleaning up Lagos from the office of the Lagos State Special Offences and Enforcement Unit, commonly known as the Task Force who have a “mandate all of their own” and the power to arrest, seize goods and destroy property without compensation – the enthusiasm is almost Stalinist with exuberance and noxious in its resolution.
The settlers welcome
The Welcome to Lagos title is salutary to the people who have come to Lagos to make a living, it is not a tourist guide to the megacity, throughout the documentary, the narrator stated Lagos is the fastest growing megacity in the world and it has no infrastructure to support its growing population because the pull for economic survival is compelling and irresistible.
In the first two documentaries, we saw the lives of people who had come to settle in Lagos where the absence of social housing and the prohibitive cost of entering the house rental market means that people have to seek accommodation in the more affordable places which just happen to be the slums.
Sanitising Lagos
The documentary suggests that up to three-quarters of the population of this thriving megacity lives in these places and the government of Lagos has caught on this grand vision called the Lagos Megacity Project – the Task Force which has the force of criminal law enforcement behind it whilst acting as a regulatory body for practices that abide by the law has been assigned the task of destroying all the slums, driving out the criminals, the squatters and the illegal traders who clog up the streets.
Indeed, there is a criminal element in Lagos life and they are not only in the slums, they are everywhere and hated by everyone, they are called Area Boys – jobless gangs of men who rob, extort, tax, harass and threaten the amiable communities they muscle without compunction. The Task Force should well go after these miscreants as well as ensure people do not put up illegal structures that obstruct the daily lives of other members of the community.
However, if the government were to rid itself of these slums which in a majority of cases consists of settlers rather than indigenes only that it has not degenerated to the conflicts of Jos in the middle of Nigeria, where do these 11 million people go? The official in charge said plainly, “We don’t need them.”
The cosy lot
The well ensconced communities have been given a narrative or a notion that these slums consist of armed robbers, prostitutes and illegal activity, this false propaganda finds support amongst the vocal with access to the media.
However, with episodes one and two of Welcome to Lagos, one would be hard pressed to see any picture of criminal activity, chaos or lawlessness, rather, where the government and civic society has not stepped up to its obligations of providing housing, business environments and required infrastructure, these people have improvised with the meagre means they have to make their lives liveable and bearable.
An industry of landscapers has arisen out of the misery of the displaced slum dwellers, as Lagos is not necessarily paved over with macadam but being greened up with grass, trees, water features and so many aesthetically beautiful things – the railroads will be revamped, better roads will be built and people would feel safer – goes the message, but the slum dwellers are being frustrated but not out of Lagos where everyone thinks they have that springboard to success – optimism and hope exudes – new slums will arise elsewhere.
A Welthauptstadt in the making
Sanitising Lagos by eliminating a core part of its lifeblood and resource; the people, their living and their livelihoods, is dangerous,; even though the beauty and cleanliness of parts of the city that once appeared to have descended into almost terminal decay have now got a new look. It however makes one recall a project so similar over 70 years ago where a capital city was being converted into a world metropolis but the same methods we see today.
Welcome to Lagos should be seen for what it is, the victimisation of a section of the community for a grandiose plan with the government not rising up to its responsibilities to provide the essential needs of the displaced people – whilst I would not advocate civil activism – for the many that have jumped the gun on this documentary, maybe they can right their ways by militating against this injustice and deprivation of fellow Nigerians.
The real government responsibility
Adequate housing for the growing population of Lagos, essential infrastructure to cater for its people, proper relocation plans that account for accommodation, schools, hospitals, markets, recreations and places of worship – it should not be too much to ask for – but to displace people for trees, grass and water fountains – no greater sense of injustice can be visited on a diligent, resilient and proud people.
Welcome to Lagos presages the rise of civil unrest, before this gathers into a force that government cannot control when people realise what is really happening to them, something needs to be done – Lagos belongs to every Nigerian who decides to live there as long as they are law-abiding, responsible and conscientious – indigene and settler – alike.
They should all feel they all have equal access to live in Lagos with all the trappings of civility and contemporary civilisation – with this documentary; it is evident that there is no such equality exists and no one is standing up for the downtrodden “slum dweller” of Lagos, the megacity.
Sources
[1] Nigerian Curiosity | Watch BBC's “Welcome to Lagos” Part 3 (Video)
Other reference
Welthauptstadt Germania - Hilter's vision of a new Berlin [akin.blog-city.com]
My reviews of all the parts of BBC’s Welcome to Lagos documentary
Nigeria: Welcome to Lagos III - Welthauptstadt Nigeria
Nigeria: Welcome to Lagos II - Beyond Civic Pride
Nigeria: Welcome to Lagos - An inspiration
Showing posts with label lagoon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lagoon. Show all posts
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Friday, 23 April 2010
Nigeria: Welcome to Lagos II - Beyond Civic Pride
Originally published on Nigerians Talk.ORG please post your comments and views there. Thanks.
Makoko – the Venice of Africa
The second part of Welcome to Lagos [1] shown on the BBC yesterday was another compelling viewing that would leave many viewers divided between the humanity of those communities and the conditions of the same communities.
The second part can be viewed courtesy of Nigerian Curiosity [2] who has obtained video viewable on her blog – Thanks for a splendid job.
There are however a few incontrovertible facts, Makoko is part of Lagos, about 100,000 people live there, they are Nigerians and there is no reason for them to feel inferior to any other so-called emancipated Nigerian who is too ashamed to see the realities in their own country.
Spare me the whining
The middle-class whining about the image, tourist potential and places of superfluous grandeur that majors on trends and the mimicry of foreign styles and mores without any substance, hoping to portray an air-brushed image of life and opulence is interesting but not about Nigeria at all.
In my case, I would have preferred to see the tenacity and in the words of the narrator, the resourceful, determined and unbelievably resilient people of Makoko than pretentious haughty hedonists living in gated communities built by foreigners for which they have to pay fortunes to keep up with the Joneses.
A family of note
Indeed, the life of the 65-year old who had been there for 40 years was interesting as a father of 18 children welcoming a new grandchild, it would be easily to castigate the creation of such a large family.
However, unlike typically large families that make the news in the West as scroungers living on welfare, the man held his house together, they ate together and he strove to maintain discipline within that seemingly happy household apart from the difficulties he had with a son who was not keen on the dignity of labour for the waywardness of social excess.
A jack of many trades, mastering most, he was fish-farmer, fish-monger, landlord and lucky gambler with an interesting lottery prediction system – the man was grounded, able and willing to do whatever he could for the good of himself and his family – that at least should be commendable.
Let there be sand
Land reclamation was a fascinating mix of the foundation of rubbish, layers of sawdust obtained from a saw mill nearby which also absorbed the foul odours and then sand.
The sand divers collecting sharp sand for the building trade were men of a different kind, one of the divers was 50 and his body could easily pass for a fit athlete half his age. They filled their boats in hours and rather than row they put up huge sails and made for land to deliver their cargo.
The flotilla of sand boats was a sight to behold, a regatta of hard labour and of people who in difficult situations made a living worthy of great respect.
An abattoir for trees
The sawmill was a hive of activity with lots of child labour, one of the foremen slept on the premises but hoped to acquire a place for himself once he had saved enough money {he eventually did} – they were driven and only stopped when the electricity supply was lost for all sorts of infrastructure reasons that have consistently plagued Nigeria.
Thankfully, none of the sawmill owners were in the game of one-upmanship of acquiring generators to draw more business to themselves but when two deaths occurred from electrocution all the operators gathered in a union style meeting and proposed that all operators must wear rubber gloves and boots. Each death initiated three days of mourning along with contributions towards the burial of the victim and for the upkeep of his family.
The sawmills were a seriously unsafe environment but the fatalities necessitated a change to their working environment. At one time, an owner opined that siblings working together might just be engaged in chit-chat, but the dedication of the children lead to their permanent employment with nostalgic memories of home.
A university student, a marine science major paid his fees by logging in the holidays, he felled the trees and used the buoyancy of water to transport the trees to the sawmill over the period of a week – his command of English was hardly good but I felt it was useful for the environment he was in.
A marine science specialist is not necessarily going to be speaking the Queen’s English to the fish when he eventually gets his degree.
Long lost traditions
Animist potions and incisions for protection have always been our traditional way of dealing with omens, evils and the need for protection – logic and religion might have robbed people of faith in the ways of our forefathers but herbal remedies are usually what they are made out to be, if the dispenser knows the detail.
The mode of transport was mainly by canoe and you could see women “drive” their vehicles paddling with a sense of purpose and dignified strokes that caressed the waters of the lagoon.
The people
The idea that the documentary is negative is preposterous and insincere at best, it is dishonest to deny these people a peaceful productive existence because of some aspiration for a civic society where the privileged can showcase their “bling” whilst the underprivileged gets hounded from place to place by government bulldozers and schemes to pave those paradises to put up parking lots.
In an article in the Financial Times [3] about the first instalment of the Welcome to Lagos documentary the columnist said we miss “a compelling case for Nigeria’s economic potential and its greatest but often overlooked asset: its people.”
The people of Makoko and the people of Olusosun are assets to Nigeria, not shiny, window dressed, fake, fickle and plastic imitations of life looking nice, they are the salt of the earth and like it or not – They are fellow Nigerians with rights, dreams, aspirations and much more – live with it.
Sources
[1] BBC - BBC TV blog: Welcome to Lagos - it'll defy your expectations
[2] BBC's Welcome To Lagos Part 2 (video) ~ Nigerian Curiosity
[3] FT.com / Management - Business flair in the slums of Lagos
My reviews of all the parts of BBC’s Welcome to Lagos documentary
Nigeria: Welcome to Lagos III - Welthauptstadt Nigeria
Nigeria: Welcome to Lagos II - Beyond Civic Pride
Nigeria: Welcome to Lagos - An inspiration
Makoko – the Venice of Africa
The second part of Welcome to Lagos [1] shown on the BBC yesterday was another compelling viewing that would leave many viewers divided between the humanity of those communities and the conditions of the same communities.
The second part can be viewed courtesy of Nigerian Curiosity [2] who has obtained video viewable on her blog – Thanks for a splendid job.
There are however a few incontrovertible facts, Makoko is part of Lagos, about 100,000 people live there, they are Nigerians and there is no reason for them to feel inferior to any other so-called emancipated Nigerian who is too ashamed to see the realities in their own country.
Spare me the whining
The middle-class whining about the image, tourist potential and places of superfluous grandeur that majors on trends and the mimicry of foreign styles and mores without any substance, hoping to portray an air-brushed image of life and opulence is interesting but not about Nigeria at all.
In my case, I would have preferred to see the tenacity and in the words of the narrator, the resourceful, determined and unbelievably resilient people of Makoko than pretentious haughty hedonists living in gated communities built by foreigners for which they have to pay fortunes to keep up with the Joneses.
A family of note
Indeed, the life of the 65-year old who had been there for 40 years was interesting as a father of 18 children welcoming a new grandchild, it would be easily to castigate the creation of such a large family.
However, unlike typically large families that make the news in the West as scroungers living on welfare, the man held his house together, they ate together and he strove to maintain discipline within that seemingly happy household apart from the difficulties he had with a son who was not keen on the dignity of labour for the waywardness of social excess.
A jack of many trades, mastering most, he was fish-farmer, fish-monger, landlord and lucky gambler with an interesting lottery prediction system – the man was grounded, able and willing to do whatever he could for the good of himself and his family – that at least should be commendable.
Let there be sand
Land reclamation was a fascinating mix of the foundation of rubbish, layers of sawdust obtained from a saw mill nearby which also absorbed the foul odours and then sand.
The sand divers collecting sharp sand for the building trade were men of a different kind, one of the divers was 50 and his body could easily pass for a fit athlete half his age. They filled their boats in hours and rather than row they put up huge sails and made for land to deliver their cargo.
The flotilla of sand boats was a sight to behold, a regatta of hard labour and of people who in difficult situations made a living worthy of great respect.
An abattoir for trees
The sawmill was a hive of activity with lots of child labour, one of the foremen slept on the premises but hoped to acquire a place for himself once he had saved enough money {he eventually did} – they were driven and only stopped when the electricity supply was lost for all sorts of infrastructure reasons that have consistently plagued Nigeria.
Thankfully, none of the sawmill owners were in the game of one-upmanship of acquiring generators to draw more business to themselves but when two deaths occurred from electrocution all the operators gathered in a union style meeting and proposed that all operators must wear rubber gloves and boots. Each death initiated three days of mourning along with contributions towards the burial of the victim and for the upkeep of his family.
The sawmills were a seriously unsafe environment but the fatalities necessitated a change to their working environment. At one time, an owner opined that siblings working together might just be engaged in chit-chat, but the dedication of the children lead to their permanent employment with nostalgic memories of home.
A university student, a marine science major paid his fees by logging in the holidays, he felled the trees and used the buoyancy of water to transport the trees to the sawmill over the period of a week – his command of English was hardly good but I felt it was useful for the environment he was in.
A marine science specialist is not necessarily going to be speaking the Queen’s English to the fish when he eventually gets his degree.
Long lost traditions
Animist potions and incisions for protection have always been our traditional way of dealing with omens, evils and the need for protection – logic and religion might have robbed people of faith in the ways of our forefathers but herbal remedies are usually what they are made out to be, if the dispenser knows the detail.
The mode of transport was mainly by canoe and you could see women “drive” their vehicles paddling with a sense of purpose and dignified strokes that caressed the waters of the lagoon.
The people
The idea that the documentary is negative is preposterous and insincere at best, it is dishonest to deny these people a peaceful productive existence because of some aspiration for a civic society where the privileged can showcase their “bling” whilst the underprivileged gets hounded from place to place by government bulldozers and schemes to pave those paradises to put up parking lots.
In an article in the Financial Times [3] about the first instalment of the Welcome to Lagos documentary the columnist said we miss “a compelling case for Nigeria’s economic potential and its greatest but often overlooked asset: its people.”
The people of Makoko and the people of Olusosun are assets to Nigeria, not shiny, window dressed, fake, fickle and plastic imitations of life looking nice, they are the salt of the earth and like it or not – They are fellow Nigerians with rights, dreams, aspirations and much more – live with it.
Sources
[1] BBC - BBC TV blog: Welcome to Lagos - it'll defy your expectations
[2] BBC's Welcome To Lagos Part 2 (video) ~ Nigerian Curiosity
[3] FT.com / Management - Business flair in the slums of Lagos
My reviews of all the parts of BBC’s Welcome to Lagos documentary
Nigeria: Welcome to Lagos III - Welthauptstadt Nigeria
Nigeria: Welcome to Lagos II - Beyond Civic Pride
Nigeria: Welcome to Lagos - An inspiration
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