Watch BBC Documentary “Welcome To Lagos”

By Tambay, on May 2nd, 2010

A “controversial” 6-part documentary series which aired on BBC, on Thursday, 15th April 2010, that “explores life at the sharp end of one of the most extreme urban environments in the world: Lagos, Nigeria.” Controversial because it’s been derided by some Nigerians – notably Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, who called it “condescending” and “colonialist,” and that it’s a “tendentious and lopsided programme.”

Even the Nigerian government has reportedly protested the content of the documentary to the BBC and the British government.

There are those who lament the documentary’s focus on the city’s poverty and degradation, while ignoring the more affluent, educated, although much smaller third, conjuring up author Chimamanda Adichie’s “danger of a single story” concern.

But other Nigerians disagree, saying that the documentary represents the reality for the majority of the city’s populace, and see value in the discomfort in inspires in some.

In its defense, a spokesperson for the BBC said that “its aim was to give a voice to those living at the sharp end of this ever-expanding population and highlight the resourcefulness, determination and creativity of those adapting to life in this most extreme of urban environments.”

Watch all 6 parts below and judge for yourself…

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6: