All language subtitles for Michael.Palin.in.Nigeria.S01E01.1080p.HDTV.H264-DARKFLiX

PLANE CABIN CHIMES

MICHAEL PALIN: My flight to Nigeria
arrives very early.

PILOT: Welcome to Lagos,
where the local time now

is just coming up to five to five
in the morning.

'Landing in a new country is often
an unsettling experience...'

CAR HORNS HONK,
VIBRANT HUM OF CHAT

He's waving you on.

Yeah, he's waving you on.

TRAIN RUMBLES ON TRACKS

'..and Lagos is not
for the faint-hearted.'

VEHICLE HORNS BLARE

This is exciting.

My first time in Nigeria.

A new country to me.

A place where
there's always about 20 people

available to help you
do anything you want to do.

HORN BLARES

And they blow their horns a lot.

I've known about Nigeria
for a long time,

because it was a colony, and...

But I am fascinated
by just how it works.

By 2099,

Lagos will be
the biggest city in the world.

There'll be 88 million people here.

'Covering 450 square miles...

'..Lagos is the largest city
in Africa.

'And it's the starting point
of my journey

'across the most
economically-powerful country

'of this vast continent.

'Nigeria...'
ROAR OF CROWD

'..often perceived from the outside

'as prone to corruption...

'..fraud and the threat
of Boko Haram terrorism.'

PROTESTERS:
Bring back our girls now, and alive!

'But this country
is a complex puzzle.

'It's on the rise,

'with a rapidly-expanding population

'that will soon make it
the third most populated country

'in the world.'

Wow.

'To try and understand
the contradictions of Nigeria...'

One ticket to Abuja, please.
TRAIN HORN SOUNDS

'..|'m embarking
on a 1,300-mile journey...

'..across a beautiful land
known as the Giant of Africa.

'A vibrant country,
where 60% of the population

'are under 25 years old...'

Nigerians just have a unique sense
of wanting to thrive.

'..but whose potential
is being held back.'

Politics is a means
of enriching oneself. Yeah.

'Once part of the British Empire,

'Nigeria and the UK
have a complex relationship.'

The British were the main proponents
of the slave trade.

They should give us back
our artefacts.

'Safety will be a big concern
during my journey,

'but Nigeria's hazardous roads
could stop us going anywhere.'

We're in really serious trouble now.

'I'll travel
from the chaos of Lagos...

'..to the heat and rituals
of the Islamic North.'

MAN SHRIEKS

Yeah. There we go. Whoo!

Oh, wow!
Yeah!

'..across a country where worship
prevails on a huge scale.'

CROWD SING
'It's life on the wild side.

'This is Nigeria.'

This is Nigeria.

'Lagos is home
to over 20 million people.

'And an estimated 2,000 more
arrive each day...

'..all with the dream
of making it big

'in Africa's metropolis.

MUSIC AND SINGING

This is one
of the biggest markets about.

It's actually
the biggest market in Lagos.

SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

'Covering an area
of more than a square mile,

'Balogun market is an assault
on the senses.'

OVERLAPPING CHAT,
LAUGHTER

HORN HONKS

'And my friend and fixer,
Chriss Nwobu,

'is on hand to explain it all.'

Lagos is... Lagos is chaotic,
especially in a place like this.

In this chaos, there's also harmony.

There's peace
in every layer of chaos.

You understand?

But naturally, when you have
this kind of traffic of humans,

you have friction,
one way or the other.

I can't help noticing

that I'm probably
one of the few white men

you'd see in a market like this.

I mean, what...
People are shouting things at me.

Are they are they saying
nice things, or what?

I mean, you know...
Yeah.

I think, basically what, uh,
a lot of these people are saying is,

"Oyinbo, oyinbo, oyinbo."
Oyinbo?

Yes. Quite simply...
Yeah.

just like you heard that guy
just said that.

You know? That, uh,
it simply means "a white man".

It's not anything derogatory.

It's not judge mental?
No, no, not at all.

'just as I'm starting to enjoy
the vibrant chaos of Lagos...

'..a woman
tries to grab our attention.'

I'm Nigerian. We are suffering.

We are dying.
We are rotting. Help us!

'Her cries remind me that many
Nigerians are struggling to survive.

'Living costs have rocketed,

'and there's almost no support
from the Government.'

There is no food.
We are stressing and proud.

You help us in this country.

God bless you all.

'This is a country where people
must fend for themselves.

'And to discover how people survive,

'my next stop
is this neighbourhood...

'..a place that is
entirely self-sufficient.'

'Built on both land and water,

'this is Makoko.'

There we are, the boats.

There seems to be
a few taxis available.

RAISED VOICES

'There seems to be some dispute

'over who's going to take me
around Makoko.'

ANGRY VOICES

Is this my boat?
OK. This one here? Yeah.

Yeah. Thank you.

At last!

This being Nigeria, there's
several people here to help me.

I mean, several hundred, actually.

MEN SHOUT
IN OWN LANGUAGE

Everyone's got the answer
to our journey problems.

MICHAEL LAUGHS

And everyone has a different answer.

OK. Thank you.
He's saying one way.

The other one's saying another way.

Bye, now. Good hat.

Everything...
MICHAEL LAUGHS

Everything is a wonderful picture,
I have to say.

'As we squeeze our way through,

'the waters bring a welcome calm.'

HE SNIFFS,
SIGHS

'And then, it's the sheer scale
of Makoko that hits me.'

'First established
in the 19th century by a fishermen

'from the nearby Republic of Benin,

'Makoko is still considered
an illegal settlement

'by the Government.

'And a place where the average wage
is less than $2 a day.'

It's just...
extraordinary, really.

I mean,
the buildings are nearly all...

I mean, they're all makeshift,
put together with bits of driftwood,

a bit of corrugated iron
here and there.

You know,
it's just almost all made of wood.

'What strikes me most about Makoko,
is the number of children here.

'With a birth rate averaging
five children for every woman,

'Nigeria's population
is rapidly rising.

'By 2050, it's estimated there'll
be over 400 million people here.

'A population behind
only that of China and India.'

All human life is here.

CHILDREN CHATTER

At high volume, as you can hear.

You know, they like
to make their presence known.

'Eventually, my boat arrives
at the only two-storey building

'I've seen in Makoko.
And it's a school.'

Taiwo.
Oh. Hello.

Michael. Yeah.

Michael. Yes.
This is your school?

Yeah, this is my school.

'The Part Of The Solution
Primary School

'has almost 400 pupils,
all crammed into small classrooms.

'It's run by Taiwo Shemede,

'who's a son of one
of Makoko's village leaders.'

I mean, I see a lot of...
a lot of children around.

The population of Nigeria
is increasing very fast indeed.

The birth rate here, it's high.

We have more than
200,000 people here.

More than 200,000.
On the water.

How big is your family?
You have brothers and sisters?

My clad is a chief. He have two wife.
Yeah, right.

The first wife gave birth
to, uh, 18.

18?
18.

So my mum gave birth to 17.

Really?
Yeah.

So we're a big family.
Over 30. Yeah.

Yeah, over 30.

Must make Christmas
a little bit expensive.

Yeah.
THEY LAUGH

Do you get any help at all
from the Government,

or the state of Lagos?

No, I don't get any help
from the Government,

even from the state.

What's their attitude to it?

The reason is that during 2012,

the Government gave us
72-hour notice

to evacuate all of us on water.

'The local government has been
trying to dismantle Makoko for years

'and would like to see
high-rise apartment blocks

'built on the waterfront.

'But when they tried
to forcibly evict residents in 2012,

'the community resisted
and has stayed here ever since.'

'Taiwo tells me
far more children want to come here

'than they have space for.'

Gosh, how many here?

Like, we have 130 here.

130, in one form?

'It's my turn to be the teacher.'

I've come to Nigeria,
which is your country.

It's the first time
I've ever been in Nigeria.

CHILDREN CLAP

Very good indeed.
There you are, you see.

I've got some maps here,
and I want to show you,

this is an old map.

You hold one end there, OK?

And you hold that end there.
All right.

Now, this is the map
that we all know now.

And this was first drawn
about 400 years ago.

And it made... because the world
is round, like that.

They tried to make
the countries sort of round.

So Africa... that's Africa there,
and that's where you live there.

And it came out rather small.

'For hundreds of years,

'maps have shown Africa
to be much smaller than it is.'

So recently,
they did another projection.

There we are, you see.

So you can see how Africa
is one shape there, but quite small.

And look at Africa here,
the proper dimensions of it.

You can see it's much bigger.

CHILDREN CLAP

Well, that's a hell of a day.

Makoko has been described as
the biggest sort of slum in Africa.

I know that the poor...
the conditions here

are pretty awful.

They don't have electricity.

Um, you know, they get around
in sort of very simple wooden boats.

They don't have proper schools.

But what I've seen today is a kind
of raucous celebration to the place.

And there's noise all the time.

There's colour,
everyone's touting for business.

People are making money.
Some losers, I'm sure.

Some people are having
a really horrible time.

But the rest of it,
these are people with very little

making a huge amount of it,
you know, with it.

And it's really kind of quite
a delightful, uplifting experience.

'It is thought around 70% of people
in Lagos live in slums.

'But just 12 miles away from Makoko,

'is a very different
part of the city.

'Lagos is a place of extremes,

and while there may be
a lot of poverty,

'it's obvious
that there's also a lot of money.

'I've come to
the upscale neighbourhood of Lekki

'to see where wealthy Lagosians
come to play.'

I mean,
this is great here by the water.

Is it typical of nightlife
in Lagos?

Michael,
you haven't even seen the nightlife.

SHE LAUGHS

This is mellow.
I lost my glasses earlier.

I couldn't see anything.
HE LAUGHS

This chill, this is chilled vibe.

But don't worry,
after this interview,

I'm gonna show you Naija.
Are you?

'ldara ldemeko works in Lagos'

'internationally-successful
music industry,

'worth over
two billion dollars a year.

'It symbolises
Nigerian success and ambition.'

What is it that drives people,
you know, that makes them so...

They seem to be so ambitious.

ls everybody wanting to get
to the top, or is it a relaxed...

Is it a relaxed place to be?

I would say, in my opinion,

the major vibe of the city of Lagos,
the state, is hustle and bustle.

You know, the drive to, like,
make something out of yourself.

I mean, I feel like one
of the reasons why Lagos is, like,

overpopulated, is because people
are coming from other states,

other cities, because this is
the metropolitan, you know, spot.

This is the hot spot.

So this hustle, this,
you talk about this...

is this uniquely Nigerian,
do you think?

There's something Nigerian...
Absolutely.

...no other country has
in quite the same way. No.

No shade to other countries,
you know?

Love other countries.

But Nigerians just have
a unique sense of self,

of wanting to thrive.

There are many reasons and factors
and variables as to why.

I feel like one of them
is obviously because

we were colonised by the British,
and you know,

we were, um,
I guess it was instilled in us

from a very young age
that, you know,

your white... well, their white
is very different from your Black.

So you have to make sure
that you work twice as hard

and get to the top
and do all of that.

'Nigeria's oil-rich economy

'generates 500 billion dollars
a year.

'But with 60% of Nigerians
living in poverty,

'the wealth inequality is obvious.

'Many people blame a society
they say is plagued by corruption.'

What I hear about Nigeria,
people say before I came here,

you know, corruption is really bad,
and there are all these things.

Who said that?
SHE LAUGHS

I think it's... I think
it's in the guidebook, you know?

I mean, there's no place
that doesn't have its struggles,

you know what I mean?

But yeah, Nigeria, um, it's...
Yeah, it's rough.

It can be rough.

The country, I feel,
is moving backwards.

Our infrastructure is not growing
at the pace that it needs to grow.

It's not like South Korea's
or India's or China's.

The economy's terrible.

It doesn't make any sense.

'I'm starting to understand that
while Nigeria may have its problems,

'the people here
are driven, determined,

'and extremely good company.'

Cheers. Thank you.

Cheers.
Fantastic.

Really, really nice to talk to you.

I love talking to you.

We should talk some more.
We could go on and on. Yeah, yeah.

We'll go to a few clubs.
I mean, might...

'Many say the roots of Nigeria's
problems go back hundreds of years

'to a time when Britain
was exerting huge influence

'over this part of the world.'

'Lagos is the Portuguese word
for lakes,

'and the city is built around
a series of lagoons and waterways

'that lead to the Atlantic Ocean.'

Tarkwa Bay. Hi.

Ta rkwa Bay? One?

'The ferry terminal on Lagos Island

'is vital for traders
heading to local markets.

'And a key port for others, like me,
who want to go further afield.'

Hi, guys!
HE CH UCKLES

'I'm hoping to get
to the coastal town of Badagry,

'which was once a key port
in the transatlantic slave trade.'

Hi, morning.

But on the way,
I'm stopping at Tarkwa Bay,

a popular beach, close to the city.

Yeah, well, finally, on the waters
of the Atlantic, I think.

I'm not quite sure, but...

This is the first time I've kind of
had a look at Lagos from the water.

And, of course, you remember
it is all set on the water.

There we are.
Oh, wow.

Off to Tarkwa Bay.

'And after 15 minutes,
I arrive at Tarkwa Bay.

'Apparently, at the weekend,
this place is packed

'with people escaping the city.

'But on a Friday lunchtime,
it's deserted.'

Billed as Lagos' safest beach,

but you can see why -
there's nobody here.

The contrast with the rest of Lagos

where there are just hundreds
of people every square foot.

Here, it's this wonderful,
you know, emptiness.

I mean, this is not like Margate.

There are a lot of rules here,

if you come
to this particular beach.

This wonderful, rather tatty sign,
but there it is.

You know,
"no building structure of any kind.

"No fighting.
"No smoking of Indian hemp.

"No homosexual-ism,
gay or lesbianism.

"No weapons allowed."

I mean,
how can you enjoy yourself here?

What is there left in life,
you know?

'Leaving Ta rkwa Bay,

'I travel 40 miles west

'to the historic slave port
of Badagry.

'Britain once called this part
of Africa "The Slave Coast",

'and I'm hoping to get a better
understanding of the impacts

'of the slave trade on Nigeria.

'After half an hour,

'urban sprawl makes way
for lush tropical vegetation,

'a reminder of what Lagos
would have looked like

'to the first European travellers
arriving here 500 years ago.

'Badagry itself
is a small and sleepy town,

'a total contrast to Lagos.

'But there's still
a charming air of chaos.'

It's very confusing now,
because we've come by water

to this point here,
and have to get off the boat,

and now I've got to get a taxi
or tuk-tuk to another point...

...and then take another ferry,

which takes us
across to the other side,

and then we get tuk-tuks again.

I mean, this is like
some sort of game show.

Um. Hi, there.
I need to get...

Thank you. I need to get
to the Point of No Return.

Does that make sense to you?

Yes.
Good. You can take me?

I will take you there.
OK.

No, no, no.
Bye-bye, now.

'Apparently, this is where
I'll be catching my next boat.

'And luckily,
I'm also meeting someone

'who knows where I'm going...'

Hello!
'..and why I'm going there.'

I'm pleased to see you.
I'm pleased too. Welcome!

I don't know what's happening!
I don't know what's happening.

But you're here.
I am, I'm here. I'm Michael.

It's so hot.
Isn't it?

Do you have a hat?
Yeah, I've got a hat here,

cos I know we're going to be
doing some walking later on.

Yes, we are. So I've got a hat.
It's not a hat as good as that.

That is... that's going to keep
people miles around in the shade.

I bought it specially
so that we can share. Thank you!

I'll shelter under your hat.
There you go.

There we go.
There you go. There you go. OK.

'Aduke Gomez is a local writer
and historian of the slave trade.'

Ancl now, we have to go
on a little boat across the water

to that island...
OK. ..of Gberefu.

Ancl from there,
we walk to the Point of No Return.

Oh, I see,
that's an island over there. Yes.

Not this boat.
No, not this boat.

This blue one, here.
Oh, that's nice. Yes.

'As we arrive at the island,
and dry land,

'we encounter another obstacle.'

'Recent rainfall means what
is normally a pathway is flooded.'

It looks as though
we've got to get on motorbikes now!

Look at this mess.
This is bad. This is bad.

So we go on bikes now?
Yes, we go on bikes.

just because of
this little area here.

Because of the water, yes.

'Some locals have decided to provide
the world's shortest taxi service.'

Here we go. Ah!

REVVING

We're walking to a beach known as
the Point of No Return,

the place where thousands
of captured men and women

would be taken before boarding
the waiting slave ships.

They had no idea. They had no idea
where they were going...

They had no idea...
..or probably why they were going.

To have gotten to this point,

generally, they would already
have been captured for days,

if not months.
Yeah.

They'd have had minimum food
and water.

just enough -
a minimum to keep them alive. Yes.

'Transatlantic slavery from Africa
began in the mid-15th century,

'growing in scale as plantations
in the Americas demanded

'huge numbers of workers...

'..over three million of whom
came from what is now Nigeria.'

I imagine that they would have been
completely petrified.

They've been beaten, starved,
probably assaulted in various ways.

As your great-great-grandfather
would have gone through all that...

Yes. ..that's in your blood, really,
isn't it? Yes, it is.

The very first time I came here,
truly, I really felt...

Ah, how, how must it have been like?
Yeah.

I mean, trauma - I don't think it
even begins to actually explain it.

'Halfway across the island,

'Aduke brings me
to an old water well.'

This was the last spot
where they could drink water.

So, as you see,
it's the well of attenuation.

It's the well of reducing
the spirits of the slaves.

Now,
the traditions around it are that,

if you drank from this well,
you would forget who you are.

So your spirit would be removed.

Now, whether it is a tradition,

whether the enslavers put
some kind of potion in the water,

we'll never know.

But this is the final step
of removing any humanity.

Because... because for me,

for the slave trade
to be as successful as it was,

you had to look at the people you
are enslaving as not human. Yeah.

If not, there's no way
you could have clone it. Yeah.

'Hearing the sound of waves
crashing on the beach,

'I start to appreciate how
terrifying this place must have been

'for the prisoners,

'many of whom would never
have seen the ocean before.'

Ancl here we have the Atlantic.

WAVES CRASH

This is the Point of No Return.

This is the Point of No Return.
Yeah.

WAVES THUNDER

Wow. Gigantic.

'As we look out across the ocean,

'the idea of thousands
of men and women being taken

'from their homes and families,

'then sent across the Atlantic
in barbaric conditions,

'feels all too real.'

The ship would have been further out

and then they would have had
little boats. Yeah.

Whoa!

'What is difficult about all of this

'is that many of the slave ships
moored right here

'would have been British,

'and Britain, the country
I've lived in my whole life,

'led and profited
from the slave trade

'for hundreds of years.'

The fact is that the British

were the main proponents
of the slave trade.

Yes, starting from 1672,

when the Royal African Company
was formed,

with the.. with the brother
of the king at the time,

who was the Duke of York,
as one of the...

So it was right from the top.
It was right from the top.

And that's where,

um, cities like Bristol
and Liverpool came to prominence.

And the big banks, a lot of...
Ancl the big banks as well.

...grew up in the 1690s.
Yes, absolutely.

From, from the slave trade.
Yeah, yep.

Slavery...

brought about racism.

And so, as a Mack country,

it's harder and harder
to prove yourself as well.

'Britain would outlaw slavery
in 1807,

'but it continued in Nigeria
for far longer,

'destroying communities
and, many say,

'holding back the development
of the country for centuries.'

It's quite a strange sensation
being here on this very beach,

knowing what I now know,

where so many thousands,
hundreds of thousands,

millions of slaves left,
chained up for the Americas.

And to know that the major trading
company slaves were British

and that I'm British,

it begins to swim into focus

how horrendous
the whole business really was.

And, you know,
what I've learnt today

and what I've seen today
makes me feel, well,

at the very least...

...uncomfortable,

despite being on one of the most
beautiful beaches in the world.

Horrible things happened here.

There's no getting away from it.

'One of the earliest memories
I have of Nigeria

'is the music of Fela Kuti
in the 1970s,

'whose jazz-inspired Afrobeats music

'took Africa,
and much of the world by storm.'

It's wonderful.

I only took my shirt up in the '70s
for medical examinations!

CHUCKLES

'Born in 1936,
Fela saw Nigeria, full of hope,

'break free of British rule in 1960,

'but then witnessed its descent
into a brutal military dictatorship,

'something he would protest about
throughout his life.'

# joro, jaro, joro
Go and kill. #

# pro, 1am, 'yore. #

# Go and (he. #
# pro, 1am, 'pro. #

# Go and quench. #
# pro, 1am, ]oro...#

'Combining music
and political activism,

'Fela became a hero
of the Nigerian people,

'one public figure
they could believe in.

'I'm meeting his daughter,
Yeni Kuti,

'at a replica of his concert venue,
the Afrika Shrine.'

We built this
as a memorial to my father.

The original shrine,
was that his idea?

What was it meant to be -
a place where you could hang out?

It was African heritage...
Yeah, yeah.

...and a place of worship for him.

Is it... I mean, the idea here
is that it's open all the time.

Yes, it's open 24 hours a clay.
Yeah.

People just come in
and have a drink, you know. Yeah.

Something about being up on stage,
you must know that, cos...

Yes, I used to perform with him.
Yeah.

Ancl it was a wonderful...
I loved the stage.

I mean, what sort of performer
was he on stage?

Um... he was an all-rounder.

All round.
He was a great dancer.

Even though I never told him that
when he was alive.

MICHAEL LAUGHS
I always say, no, you can't dance.

'Fela was also renowned
for his personal life,

'once marrying 27 women
in a single day.

'Sadly, he developed AIDS,
and died in 1997.'

My father didn't really believe
in AIDS. OK, ah, right.

So, after he got ill,

we decided to try and...

...pass the message to people.

It's real, I mean,
right up till today,

a lot of people don't believe
that that's what killed my father.

They think we are lying.
Yeah. Why would you lie about that?

'Fela was fearless
in his outspoken criticism

'of the self-serving
military dictators,

'who he believed
did nothing to help the people.'

The politics were very,
very important for your father.

It was us wanting
his country to be good.

He wanted his people
to have a good life.

You know, so that's why
he didn't understand our leaders.

The military and the government,
how did they react to him?

I know that he was, he was quite
badly beaten one time, wasn't he?

Mm-hm. Many times.
Not once, many, many times.

They used to beat him.
Yeah.

Beat him very well.
Throw him in jail.

You know,
they used to beat him seriously.

'Since his death,
Nigeria's problems have only grown.

'And arguably, nobody
has really replaced Fela Kuti.'

What do you think Fela
would have felt

about the situation in Nigeria now?

If Fela had been alive...

as Nigeria has digressed?

What's the word... retrogressed...

he would probably die.
Frustration?

Frustration, heartbreak...
everything.

Not only are we in reverse,

we have turned round
and we are running backwards.

But you are going the wrong way.
That's what Nigeria is doing.

It's so frustrating.

I get passionate when I'm talking
about Nigeria. I'm frustrated.

I can tell
you're feeling his frustration...

I'm feeling his frustration.
..aren't you?

Maybe if you have
a woman president, female,

maybe you have a better country.

We will if there's more people
like you around.

I mean, you're terrifying.
Ahh!

THEY LAUGH

You get on and run the country!

'It's been a long day.

'So a member of our crew, Lola,

'decides to introduce me
to a famous Nigerian street food.'

I've had a lot of rice and chicken.

ls there any, any alternatives?
Something I haven't eaten yet.

Since it's night time,
we have to have suya.

Which is...?
Street meat.

It's just beef with spices.

So, yeah, it's just seasoned meat.

Suya?
Yes.

Does that mean anything?

I think I'm going to be a very
bad Nigerian right now and say,

I don't think it means...
suya is just meat.

Yes. Yeah. just the meat.
Yeah, that's very British

to want to know
what everything means.

just eat it.
Yeah.

A Nigerian would say, "just eat it".
just eat it.

Ooh. Since it's night time,

usually Nigerians will have this
and, like, beer or something.

Oh, wow.
Thank you so much. Thank you.

Fantastic.
Yes.

So I dip it in there?
Yeah.

That's extra suya seasoning.
Ancl you put it in.

Mm, very good.
Mm.

I like that it's a bit crusty anyway
and it's got quite a,

quite a bit of spice in it.

Mm-hm. Ancl it's the smokiness of it
as well.

It's really good.
Wow.

Shall we grab a beer with this?
Yes, definitely.

I need something to wash it down.
Yeah.

'Early the next morning,
it's time for us to pack our bags

'and leave Lagos.'

I've been in Nigeria a few days now,
I'm still trying to take it all in.

Main impression is just loud voices,
much laughter.

You know, for a reserved
Englishman like myself,

you know, arriving in Lagos is like
having 3,000 volts put through you,

the just enhanced energy
of the place.

Um... and there's a feeling
amongst the people that...

they're very welcoming to us,

but you can tell that
things aren't working

perhaps as well as they should work.

But, as I say, the whole feeling
about at the moment is really

what travelling for me is about.

It's enhancing your own,
your own feelings about the world

and the globe and what you see
and where people are.

Soon, we're back at Lagos airport
so we can fly north.'

Put them all together in one space.

'This is the part of the trip I've
been looking forward to the most.

'The north of Nigeria
is less well-known than Lagos,

'which, for me,
makes it even more interesting.'

TANNOY ANNOUNCEMENT

'I'm flying to Kano, the main city
in the north of Nigeria,

'a place often associated with the
Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.

'After spending
a couple of days in Kano,

'we will embark on a two-week road
trip through the centre of Nigeria

'along the country's
notoriously bad roads.

'On board, I notice the distinctive
hula caps that are worn

'around this part of Africa.

'And the dusty landscape
I see as we land

'makes me realise this is
a very different part of Nigeria.'

Kah-no, is it Kano...

"Kann-oh", I think it's pronounced.

But Kano is so utterly different
to where we've come from.

It's only about
an hour and a half away.

Um, but this is the Muslim north
of Nigeria,

so you can tell that straight away.

And there's a slightly more
restrained, quiet feel to the place.

Not quite so much shouting.

It does seem, you know,
much more sort of...

HE CH UCKLES
..| hate to say it - orderly.

'There is another difference.'

The thing about Kano and the north,
of course,

is that the security situation
is much more difficult.

This is where
there have been real problems,

in the northern part of the country,
on the border of Niger.

So, although it looks
very pleasant and nice and relaxed,

we are going to have, I think,
at least two police cars with us.

So, you know, there's that little...

element of risk.

'On the way to our hotel,

'the flashing lights
of our security guards

'do little to settle my nerves.

'When we first started planning
this trip,

'our security team told us
the north was off limits.

'But now, we're here.'

'The city and state of Kano
dates back over 1,000 years.

'And has long been
one of the most important cities

'among the Hausa people,
who dominate this part of Africa.

'The city's mosques are a reminder

'that Islam has been
the dominant religion here

'for over 500 years,

'with Kano being one of 12 states
in Nigeria under Sharia law.

'This is the royal palace
of the Emir of Kano,

'the region's
traditional Islamic leader.

'After long negotiations,

'I've arrived for a meeting
with His Highness.

'And there seems to be
a lot of activity.'

BELLS JINGLE

This is a rather amazing setup,

because every year in May and June,
they have a Durbar here,

which is a general get-together -
all the royal people come,

the Emir steps out,
they have a parade,

they have horsemanship
and all sorts of things.

It's a big, big event.

But of course, we've come
at the wrong time of year.

But, for some reason,

it seems as though
they've laid one on for us.

And, yeah,

I'm not quite sure where they're all
going and what we're going to see,

but it's obviously a great,
spectacular mix of tradition,

religion, well, tradition, really.

Um, so I mean, there's a lot to see,
a lot to try and make sense of.

'A steady stream
of elaborately-dressed guests

'and their horses continue
to arrive, all in our honour.

'And then...
CHANTS

'..things start to get
even more interesting.'

SHRIEKS

DRUMBEATS

'The Durbar is a celebration
of Kano's history and traditions,

'including its love of horses.'

Alligator pointing at me.

Lot of drumming...

CHANTING

A lot of people
with a spike through their tongue.

I don't know what it all signifies.

Knives, knives are quite important.

What is he gonna do with this?

Licking the knife.

Everything we're told not to do.

Oh, wow!

'I'm told these blades
are razor-sharp,

'but magical forces
prevent them from drawing blood.

'Not that I intend
to put this to the test myself.'

DRUMBEATS CONTINUE

CLINKING

It's taped up,
so it's not gonna bite me.

Oh, he IS going to bite me!

CHANTS IN OWN LANGUAGE

The members of the Durbar committee
are inside. Yeah.

They are waiting
to receive you inside.

Oh, that's very nice.

We have to go and see them.
Yes.

'just as I'm getting
into the spirit of the Durbar...'

SHOUTS

..|'m called away for an audience
with the Emir of Kano.

'After some inevitable confusion...'

Hold on,
His Highness will sit first...

OK.
..until we enter.

'..|'m led into a rather dazzling
state room to meet His Highness,

'followed by a large number
of impressively-dressed members

'of the Emir's court.'

Thank you, thank you.

Very good to see you.
Thank you so much.

'These traditional rulers were once
all-powerful, but in recent years,

'the Nigerian government
has stripped them

'of many of their powers.'

What is your role as an emir
amongst the people here?

Well, dating back to history again,

political leaders, they come and go,

but traditional rulers
are there forever.

We are like, ah... I will call it
advisory role to the government,

but to the people generally, they
still look at us as their leaders.

I know that there have been
problems up in northern Nigeria,

and that people talk about that,

if you say you're going to Nigeria,
"Be very careful going up north".

Are there still difficult problems
here with, um,

the like of Boko Haram?

I'm happy you are a journalist
and not an ordinary journalist.

Maybe other journalists
will just sit down at one end

and write a story of another end.

But you are here,
and I believe one of your reasons,

one of the benefits we have
is when you go back,

you tell people
what you see in Kano.

It's not the violence,
it's not the fights,

it's not the terrorism.

Yes, it exists, but at such a level.

Ancl I believe the government
is trying its possible best

to see that things
are getting better.

'The Emir accompanies me
back to the Durbar,

'where things were in full swing.'

DRUMMING

'And the alligator seems to have
become the star of the show.'

HORN PLAYS

DRUMMING CONTINUES

'The parade spills out
into the streets,

'and shows no sign of letting up.'

BELLS JINGLE

This is just a small Durbar.

I've never seen anything like this,
I really haven't.

'It's hard to believe I've only
been in Nigeria for five days.

'This isn't a gentle country, but
it's an invigorating place to be in.

'I find myself feeling
both excited and apprehensive

'about what lies ahead.'

BELLS JINGLE

'Next time...'

When the blow strikes,
it's pretty hard.

'..| start my 800-mile road trip...'

One ticket to Abuja, please.
HORN BLOWS

'..across Nigeria...'

We're gonna have to hold on tight.

'..meet one of the schoolgirls
kidnapped in the terrifying

'Boko Haram raid...'

I wish I have power
to free myself from their hands.

'..experience the natural wonders
of Nigeria...'

This is one of the most immense
rocks I've ever seen.

'..and see a very different side...'

Look at this!

'..of this amazing country.'

Feel like I'm England.
I think I'm probably in a dream.

No, it's the real thing.