Quote
The Federal Government on Wednesday protested against a documentary on Lagos aired by the British Broadcasting Corporation, which portrayed the city as a slum.

The documentary entitled, “Welcome to Lagos,” was broadcast on BBC2 in the United Kingdom on April 15.

Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the UK, Dr. Dalhatu Tafida, conveyed the protest to the BBC just as Nigerians resident in Chicago, United States, advised the government to do more to change the negative perception of Nigeria in the foreign media.

A protest letter by Tafida was sent to the Controller BBC2, Ms. Janice Hadlow, in Glasgow.

A copy of the letter, which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria, reads, “The Nigeria High Commission has watched with dismay and disappointment, the first of the three-part series of your sinister documentary on Lagos which featured on April 15.

“The commission would therefore like to register its strong rejection of this documentary as a deliberate distortion of life in Lagos, and totally unwarranted.”

Tafida also said that the documentary was an attempt to bring Nigeria and its hardworking people to international odium and scorn.

He noted that the High Commission could not comprehend the motives behind the documentary, especially at a time when Nigeria was celebrating the Golden Jubilee of its independence from the British Government.

“Even by your own admission and standards, you have only succeeded in assaulting your viewers with upsetting scenes, that fail to reflect the true and complete story of life in Lagos,” the envoy added.

Tafida, who noted that sites of slums and ghettos were global phenomena, argued that “even in London, it is not uncommon to see people (not Nigerians) scavenge dustbins in search of food and other valuables.‘‘

Tafida stated that by not airing other aspects of life in the city, the BBC demonstrated a lack of balance and fairness.

He said, “What is more galling and most disconcerting is your refusal to document the excellent performance of the incumbent governor of the state.

“Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State is widely acknowledged to be doing his utmost to address the challenges in the state.‘‘

Tafida pointed out that for a television station that prides itself of wider coverage and credibility, one expected a greater demonstration of professionalism.

When our correspondent contacted the BBC reporter in Lagos, Mr. Umar Elleman, he said that he had no right to reply to such an enquiry on the documentary.

“The BBC has a policy. A reporter has no right to reply on behalf of the organisation,” he said.

Elleman advised our correspondent to direct the enquiry to his email address so that he could forward it to the London office of the BBC for a reply tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Nigerians in Chicago have urged the government to promote a positive image of Nigeria in the US to change the wrong perception of the nation in foreign media.

They said at a US-Nigeria Business Forum, that the Federal Ministry of Information and Communications needed to embark on a more aggressive promotion of Nigeria’s image abroad.

According to them, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as well the Ministry of Information and Communications should have been part of the business delegation led by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Senator Jubril Martins-Kuye, to the US.

The President, Continental Africa Chamber of Commerce in the US, Mr. Ademola Dada, said the forum would help to counter the negative perception of Nigeria created by the foreign media.

“We have to promote many face-to-face meetings like this continually since we cannot influence bad news about Nigeria,” Dada said.

The Managing Director of Air Cargo and Travel Agency, Chicago, Dr. Wale Ajifolokun, told NAN that Nigeria had to boost its ego and write its story.

“If you wait for people to write it for you, they will do that from their own perspectives, which may be wrong,’’ he said.

Ajifolokun said apart from the infrastructural challenges and insecurity, the bad image of the country had been chasing away investors from Nigeria.

An exporter, Dr. Adetunji Oyedele, called on the government to address the problems of insecurity and kidnapping in the country.

He expressed surprise that the ministries of Information and Communication as well as Tourism and Culture were not part of the delegation.

He lamented that the government had not made concerted effort to sell Nigeria to the whole world, saying that the only time “they (foreign media) got to know about us is when something bad happens.”

“If you go to the tourism department in the US, Nigeria is not one of the countries which they have information on,’’ he said.

A business consultant, Chief David Olupitan, said the forum would go a long way to correct some of the wrong perceptions about Nigeria.

He called on Nigerians to come to the US to promote their products through direct advertisements and business meetings.

“Nobody can speak well of you than yourself. We need to start talking and shouting about ourselves and what we are doing,’’ Olupitan said.

The High Commissioners direct email address is [size=13pt]Hc@Nigeria.hc.org.uk [/size]
The High Commissioners phone number is [size=13pt]44-20-7839-2037 [/size]



I just spoke, a couple of minutes ago, with one of the staff who happens to disagree with the High commissioner's stance and urges we get emails in to urge him to sit down and actually watch the video again, making sure to set aside his BIAS for the international media and his insecurities. I hope many people will stand up for the Joseph's, the Eric's, and the majority of Nigerians living in poverty today who are out there. There story needs to be told and their Nigeria is the same Nigeria with billions in oil revenue.

Get your voice heard!

Anyone has the right to agree with BBC, we also have the rights to dis agree with BBC - so why should we ask the high commissioner to watch the video again? We have the right to tell BBC to sit down inside dirt, just as others have the right to agree or praise them, So, if you support BBC fine, if you support the commissioner, fine - why put one down for another?

If i have the time, I will write 1 million emails to the commissioner praising him and a million emails to BBC for them to shut their crap, whoever said they are fighting for anyone in Nigeria? Rubbish.

Kobojunkie:

The High Commissioners direct email address is [size=13pt]Hc@Nigeria.hc.org.uk [/size]
The High Commissioners phone number is [size=13pt]44-20-7839-2037 [/size]



I just spoke, a couple of minutes ago, with one of the staff who happens to disagree with the High commissioner's stance and urges we get emails in to urge him to sit down and actually watch the video again, making sure to set aside his BIAS for the international media and his insecurities. I hope many people will stand up for the Joseph's, the Eric's, and the majority of Nigerians living in poverty today who are out there. There story needs to be told and their Nigeria is the same Nigeria with billions in oil revenue.

Get your voice heard!

Its wrong of BBC to have titled the video "Welcome to Lagos" in the first place.

It projects the whole of lagos as a dirty slum whose inhabitants are scavengers.

It is the duty of the High Commission to ensure such wrong signals aren't being projected to the world. If such a video was shot in China, i can bet my last penny the chinese government will impose heavy sanctions on BBC and wouldn't mind getting involved in a diplomatic row with the British government over it.

If you are going to show a "welcome to lagos video" than don't just stop at the slums, BBC ought to show developments going on in the state as well.

How exactly do you tell your russian friends you are a citizen of Lagos state when all they know and believe about lagos is what they watched on the BBC video.

I'm happy that the high commission is taking such measures to redeem the country's image.

Its enough that we are known as being totally corrupt and also with terrorist tendencies, calling us a buncha people who have their dwellings in slum shouldn't be our next branding!

Why do nigerians always feel the need to be sensitive?

Look. These are nigerians in this video. they are ppl with a unique story and it's not only interesting but fascinating.

the bbc could make a documentary about bank employees in nigeria, but that's boring and useless.

we know lagos has nice things, but lets stop acting like these ppl dont exist. They are humans and have the right to have their story told

now if you white friend is ignorant enough to believe that EVERYONe in the city of 16 million is a scavenger then stop considering your friends opinion as valid because they are stupid and you're stupid for respecting their stupidity to the point that you do want the stories of these nigerians told.

i know lagos. you know lagos. we all know lagos.
everyone that matters knows lagos, everyone that doesn't matter doesn't know lagos.
so lets stop hoping everything that reaches the rest of the world from nigeria is totally sugar coated and compromised. This documentary to a stupid man is about trash, to an intelligent person its about making something out of nothing and an incredible enduring brillance and work ethic,. all the documentary shows me is that nigerians are the hardest working ppl in the world

Ikengawo:

Why do nigerians always feel the need to be sensitive?

Look. These are nigerians in this video. they are ppl with a unique story and it's not only interesting but fascinating.

the bbc could make a documentary about bank employees in nigeria, but that's boring and useless.

we know lagos has nice things, but lets stop acting like these ppl dont exist. They are humans and have the right to have their story told

now if you white friend is ignorant enough to believe that EVERYONe in the city of 16 million is a scavenger then stop considering your friends opinion as valid because they are silly and you're silly for respecting their stupidity to the point that you do want the stories of these nigerians told.

i know lagos. you know lagos. we all know lagos.
everyone that matters knows lagos, everyone that doesn't matter doesn't know lagos.
so lets stop hoping everything that reaches the rest of the world from nigeria is totally sugar coated and compromised. This documentary to a silly man is about trash, to an intelligent person its about making something out of nothing and an incredible enduring brillance and work ethic,. all the documentary shows me is that nigerians are the hardest working ppl in the world

The BBC can go film the colour of Lagos feaces for all I care. What I have a problem with is the retarded producer allowing things like "3/4 of Lagos is covered by slums" to be said on the show. That is unacceptable and the government is right to call out such misrepresentation. The show is suppossed to be factual and not comedy after all.

Actually about 65-75% of Lagos households are found in the slums . . .  VI, Ikoyi, Ikeja and the small pockets of urban do not make up a majority of the land mass in Lagos. I don't think the BBC came up with that percentage as there are


http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=60811

http://allafrica.com/stories/201002221420.html

http://depot.gdnet.org/newkb/fulltext/osinubi.pdf

http://www.energypublisher.com/article.asp?id=5307

http://www.corp.at/corp_relaunch/papers_txt_suche/CORP2009_18.pdf

http://www.water.tkk.fi/wr/tutkimus/glob/publications/Haapala/pdf-files/CASE%20STUDY%20OF%20LAGOS.pdf

http://www.emagazine.com/view/?2850&printview

they said 11million people in Lagos live in slums - how ridiculous?

and that 100,000 people live in Makoko?

rubbish journalism that tells no truth.