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The BBC deserves
major kudos for its excellent documentary ‘Welcome to Lagos’ which
shines a big light on the open sores of Lagos (apologies to Soyinka,
who has reacted angrily to the piece, calling it patronising and
condescending). Soyinka should reconsider his views. The BBC deserves
credit for having the courage to damn the consequences and put out what
was obviously going to be controversial. The Nigerian poor were
empowered to open their doors and hearts to the world and revel in
their humanity, warts and all. It was a triumph of the human spirit
over the meanness of those sworn to care for all of us.

A work of
cinematographic excellence, the producers were able to draw us into the
intimate lives of folks who have learnt to survive and thrive in spite
of the government of the day. This was a documentary about the
dispossessed by the dispossessed. In this three-part series, we follow
what passes for life for people living in the slums of Makoko, in a
dump near Lagos and on the beach. This searing view is seen through the
lives of folks with names like Chube, Joseph, Esther and Eric Obuh aka
Vocal Slender. It was hard to tear myself away from this riveting
series. It was heartbreaking to see beautiful little children somehow
bravely capture a childhood out of the ruins of a wealthy nation. We
see brave men and women enjoying families with little or nothing.
Somehow they survive and thrive. The ecological disaster that the BBC
exposes is of mind boggling proportions. It can be seen in the trash
dumps where thousands make a daily living, in the tee-shirts bearing
Western logos, and in the new culture and religion. It is appalling
that in the year 2010, there are actually Nigerians swimming in faeces
and filth, trying to earn a living. We should be outraged.

Some worry that
the title Welcome to Lagos gives a false impression that this
documentary is all about Lagos. This is a fair criticism, but then
Lagos for most Nigerians is a metaphor for tough living. I actually
thought the film had a disciplined focus on the triumphs and
tribulations of the truly poor, not unlike Soyinka’s The Trials of
Brother Jero. Within that focus, it was balanced. Ironically, the
larger Lagos would come to a crashing halt without the industry of the
poor. And such joy and song! They rarely complain. Instead, they spend
their time tackling problems and somehow eking fun out of life. The
government simply does not exist, except when it lands ashore, as it
often does, to make life miserable for them. As I watched the
documentary, I kept reflecting on the genius of Fela and Soyinka. And
Soyinka’s words in ‘A Dance of the Forests’ kept ringing in my ears:
“We were sent the wrong people. We asked for statesmen and we were sent
executioners.”

The BBC
highlighted many issues that Soyinka has spent his lifetime battling:
Many generations are being destroyed in Nigeria. This is a sad place;
there are hardly any books here, here there are no playgrounds, here,
their playground is hell, These Nigerians are the face of an emerging
nation of uncritical, unthinking people, only interested in what money
can buy. The viewer is overcome with emotion watching little boys
snatching playtime in between hard work in a saw mill that is so
dangerous, two adults have been electrocuted in the space of two weeks
by exposed electrical cables (one apparently while the cameras were
rolling. I urge Governor Babatunde Fashola to investigate the deaths
and the abuses of his “task force” gang as documented in the
video-clips; we are not lower animals.

The cinematography was an artist’s dream. There is a little bit of
the showman in each character, hamming it up for the cameras, enjoying
the attention long denied them. It was simply great to meet Esther and
her friends in the third part of the series, In a way, it filled me
with hope, because I saw possibilities in the murky underwater of the
slums.

There were entrepreneurs making rich fish ponds out of sewage
infested seas. There were university students logging wood to pay for
questionable education. In summary there were all these children, women
and men, gracefully and stoically assuring the world of our humanity,
with dignity and uncommon grace. Finally, there was genius and the gift
of creativity everywhere.

You must see Esther who lives on the beach
and Eric Obuh, aka Vocal Slender the dump scavenger who dreams of
someday becoming a musician. Listening to him was pure poetry. Please
watch the clip on YouTube. Slender will make you really proud to be a
Nigerian. Nothing is wasted. Everything here is useful. You can smell
Lagos, taste her dust, and her cries of joy as dusk shuts down another
rugged day. And then you will cry for all that creativity wasting like
gas flares in Nigeria’s hell Delta. This documentary comforted me in
many ways. There is hope.