A Close Look into the Heart of Makoko | Welcome To Lagos | Part 2 | Documentary Central

do you know something more than half the people who live on this little planet now live in cities human beings have become an urban species and the cities we live in are growing by over a million people every week things will never be the same again I am welcome to Lagos the largest city in Nigeria and the fastest growing of all the mega cities of 10 million people and more which are popping up all over the world each week another 10,000 people pour into the slums which make up 34 of Lagos and they're already full to bursting every square inch is being used by someone and space is in such demand that the city is sprawling in every direction it can even into the Lagoon which surrounds [Music] it when we first come here all this place is water surrounding with water but despite this chaotic approach to urban planning life in the ghettos on the water isn't all about poverty pollution and CER you know these people can show you that a little bit of chaos is not always a bad thing singing is sing down they trying to to bail it off they're resourceful determined and unbelievably resilient this heart is my own identity to let people recogniz and they're successfully adapting to the realities of modern city life in ways which you in the so-called developed World couldn't even imagine [Music] [Music] if you want to know how the city has grown then these are the people to ask the inhabitants of lagos' version of Venice a slum built on water called [Music] makoko 200 years ago this was just a small fishing Village on the edge of Lagos Lagoon but as more and more people flooded into the expanding City looking for somewhere to settle they began to build houses on stilts now makoko extends half a mile out into the water and is home to over a 100,000 people and [Music] Counting so happy today for more happiness my child deliver new baby girl I'm so happy now we have a take this guy Tu he first came here some 40 years ago when he was in his 20s and he's seen the place transformed now aged 65 he's the proud father of 18 children and as of today five grandchilden most of whom still live with him in the oldest part of makoko [Applause] hallelujah [Music] hallelujah like most of the people who first settled in makoko chwb is a fisherman but with three daughters at University 10 children at various schools and more and more food to put on the table every day he's become an expert at making money from the most unlikely of places I'm making the fish one if we do the f p you will again if you use almost 100,000 it maybe at the end of of the day you can get 200,000 so 100,000 will be your profit stra you see this is the fish we we train for the fish P yeah okay drop it by next year we enjoy some so we can make a paper soup and have a taste how the fish look like I want to grow a toilet there's no order if you sit here the water will wash it away so you cannot get order everything is clean that's why we love [Music] it now you might not want to go for a swim around here but everything else in makoko takes place place on the water people commute to work goods are brought to Market and every day the children aod to [Music] [Applause] school and it's water that accounts for the huge PS of rubbish Lying by people's houses because this is no ordinary litter it's land reclamation makoko Style [Music] you see all this rubbish we put all this rubbish after 6 months when the thing settled down again we put another rubbish to avoid the smelling we go to a metal and collect the sers so we put this h on top when is strong we started to put sand on top so it will be St when we first come here all this place is water surrounding with water so from up over there you can get the all is water with just make this type of bridge this type of bridge so when we look at the bridge always the plank damage we feel that if we started to adopt another system that with all this rubbish we can use to fill all this place so we develop here by ourself M Coco must be one of the only places on Earth where people actually pay to have rubbish dumped on their door steps the standard fee for a load of rubbish diverted from the dump is 30 and after a couple of years a ton or so of sand and a few boatloads of sawdust you've got yourself an [Music] island unless of course your boat Springs a [Music] leak this this is singing taking down they trying to to bail it [Music] up half a mile or so Downstream from makoko is the place where all this sawdust comes from eout meta West Africa's largest Timber yard clustered along the banks of the Lagoon are more than 100 saw mills cutting vast quantities of Timber every day as the slums of Lagos continue to expand it's this place which is supplying all the wood this guy Paul came here 5 years ago from his village in the East looking for work and a place to sleep under sawdust now he's worked his way up to one of the top jobs in the yard as Chief s operator of fumi's Mill this is very big W very very big I'm putting the measurement this one brings big measurement this one will produce big [Music] money in charge of a team of eight cutting up to 200 planks in a day Paul has become one of the highest earners in the mill and after a year of saving he finally has a good chance to fulfill his ambition his own house in makoko all he needs is a few thousand naira more and the place is his but for the time being he lives in the office in the corner of the mill this is the mat that I'm sleeping with at times in the night I put it in this way I put it in this way and when I'm sleeping at night this is how I do put it when there is no mosquito that's the time that I sleep correct but when there mosquito I can't sleep it's not good being here because he saw me where I walk I supposed to have my own personal room as a person that have rented house so you saw is door and it's cut one to cut so I'm removing it because want to cut when I leave it now next thing you will hear why Sund Oh Come and car to S tell s that saw one to C and his dull is bending a few days ago Paul took on two boys called Sunday and a who both left their parents in the country to come to Lagos to look for work and have now ended up in a boute meta they claimed to be 15 and 17 but no one really believes them go with this the work in the is very hard there are many work the one that I'm doing now when you have power you can't do it because you are going to carry a big wood you're going to push the machine with your power so before you walk here you need to have the power they are trying Sunday and at least they are trying they the one to bring the so that is their work to change the so Su is complaining that he want to go break that he want to go eat that is getting weak fumi the mill boss is keeping a close eye on Paul's new recruits she's run this place with an iron fist for 20 years and can spot trouble from 100 yards FIS is typical of most of the mills in aout meta they're familyowned and run by the wives and they tend to buy off the same individual suppliers year in year out anywhere else in the world there'd be multinational logging firms all over this place but around here anyone with a bit of sense and a chainsaw can set themselves up as a [Music] logger [Music] so the length is 121 Moses here is a student at augen State University 100 k outside Lagos while many undergraduates have part-time jobs he pays for his entire Marine engineering course by coming to his local jungle twice a year to cut the plentiful Owen trees which are much in demand at aout meta when Bush in Lagos nowhere you can find this type of wood type of this tree no no wood of because in know days they don't f all this one they don't fail and finish foros Lagos area because you know that Lagos area is nearby the Su that is why they finish the forest there okay that's it so from here to that place is 12 ft 121 when we car it reach Legos it will be able to pay us very well we go see we can see like a 500 na or 1,000 or one pieces like this Moses has hit on a simple way to get his wood out of the forest he waits for the rainy season to flood the area and comes back with a boat to drag the whole lot into the nearest river which floods into the Lagos Lagoon from there it's a 3-day journey to ebut meta which is where his troubles really start when I get toos I'm never happy trouble of Lego state is too much area bus talk bus they are plenty they will be able to T them pick pocket do this I will collect something before you go but this area nothing like [Music] [Music] that [Music] a couple of days after he stocked his new fish pond chew's come up with another sure far away of making extra money for his family he's found a cheap source of imported European fish and plans to turn his home into a fish [Music] smokery where we take fishing as our occupation so nothing pertain to the face how to kill it how to smoke it it how to busher it how to cut it everything we know this fish is a foreign fish so they import this to Nigeria here after when they smoke it they we took it to Market in out of the this uh one bag you can get a 500 or 1,000 G Tu is especially Keen for his teenage son poo to get involved he started hanging out with a local gang and he's driving his parents up the wall my father the name is being that he didn't my father didn't th and my father borned me I didn't t and I want that name to rain on my son that is a good child that is why I'm talking because we must be vigilant and I want my child to be a good [Music] child fish are not the only thing on chew's mind after a lot of hard work he's come up with a fishlyn thingss in the National Lottery yeah this is a shot of the loto the the shot is this if you watch the game here that uh this week he played this number after 4 weeks he repeat this Soo number after you count 1 2 3 you're supposed to play these two games so you may carry it and they play the game this is the way we use the sh to forecast so this is Lotto [Music] International every evening without fail chew insists his entire family gather for a meal all our family will sit down together and eat together that's what we call a good family and to be eating together you will encourage your child when he gr grown up to gather as well to eat with in children I provide the life to eat together more than to jum alone anybody jum alone die [Music] alone as Dawn creeps over the Waters of the Lagoon it's easy to forget the noisy dir dirty chaos of the modern city because out here nothing has changed for decades every morning clustered together somewhere near the center of the Lagoon you'll find this ftill of boats and 500 or so sand boys getting ready to die for sand at the bottom of the Lagoon 10 ft below many Daniel and kiss me have been collecting sand the oldfashioned way by hand with a bucket their whole lives the breeze blocks used to build the slums and tower blocks of Lagos all start here let me use my drug first this is AOH aromatic chal I only need little just small it's fine the moment you use this get inside water you will feel all right you wouldn't feel cold this a bucket now I want to go inside water just like this when I go like this look at me this is how we are used to walk yeah you see huh [Music] Sil did use so a lot of buckets working fast before the sun gets too high it usually takes Daniel and kiss me just a couple of hours to fill this whole boat with the high quality sharp sand so essential to the building trade I so love it I'm inside the water I'm okay I don't feel tired you know when the sand is inside bucket it will be very light when you are coming up but by the time you want to move it up it will be very hey so you need to use your own power to push it and put it inside the room this pocket as him be the iron we Shar the hand she how the hand be this is the the iron that Cho the our hand that's why our hand just like this let me clean this how it is this hand like identity anywhere I I be my so there that is type of work I'm working so they will recognize it say it is true that you are working in this type of work it's a hard work oh my brother I can't just tell you li let see by by 1 hour to this time we have to finish this boat so that's how things be barely a week after taking on the two new Boys Paul's regular assistant s operator has quit and Sunday can't believe his luck because Paul has decided to try him out in the job it's Sunday that he's doing the work now so Sunday is doing it he's trying for pushing the machine but he's a small boy know he's a small boy so but he's trying as much as he can yeah a small boy I'm even praising him Sunday's promotion will bring him an extra 80 p a day but he needs to watch out only two weeks ago a new s operator was electrocuted and killed and this morning a few doors down from fumi's yard Another Broken electric cable has just been discovered the cable that brings the light direct from the meter down to the machine is the cable that got cut so if anybody incidentally touched the cable is totally dead [Music] [Laughter] [Music] yeah last night poo disappeared and didn't get in until this morning and chwb is worried that he's going to get in real trouble to protect him chw has called in a local herbalist to apply a magic formula to a series of Razor Cuts if then T broke botles shook you in will not enter knife will not enter maset will not enter this is what we're doing now all the boys in Lagos they will come as a Rascal boy we we don't H have money when we use with the transition we are to doing this to guide ourself because we don't all those big man who then get money they can keep a security in their guilt but we we not get security we not get the thing what you know it will take to protect yourself was brought up using these traditional methods in his home Village and still uses a number of preparations and charms which he has adapted for modern city life yeah this one is my own prot and is our tradition use not English people use we black people this by ourself by Oracle it's black medicine so we make it there's so many things inside there's a air there's a de there's so many things but I cannot count all you can help you when you then shoot you gone you will not affect you so you can escape yourself if you have a pile this one it will not make you go to toilet but it will make your toilet to be soft soft it will soft if you want to go toilet you can go two times in a day and it will be very soft it will be very easy for you when you go to toilet so not that you go to toilet you started to make no so you will dissolve everything it will come very soft and when you want to go to toilet you love it just like that [Music] that's one of the most striking things about makoko most of the people who live here are like Chu and have come from rural and Coastal Villages and now even though they live less than a mile away from the bustling modern city center they still happily combine living in the 21st century with their more traditional way of doing things tribal ritual rules take place with the premier ship playing in the background Health Centers Supply antibiotics and bark remedies in equal measure and although everyone has a mobile phone the news still gets spread by word of [Music] mouth and okay not everything that is oldfashioned around here is charming the plumbing for one is Medieval and the government one of the richest in Africa thanks to the oil industry does absolutely nothing for the place place except draw up plans to destroy it but none of this has stopped makoko becoming one of the most sought after postcodes in downtown [Music] Lagos by midm morning Daniel and km's boat is full with as much sand as they can carry without sinking raising their sail made from rice sacks hand stitched together they join the Armada on the 15-m journey back to the city this s that we are bring is a beautiful War many beautiful house in lag Los today is the Sun that we people were bring that they are using to build the the house so we proud about about the work but so that the work is very hard [Applause] [Music] work I is 50 years age sooner or later I will retired because I can't just see I will keep on with this work in the future maybe that time they will use machine that's a special one we love that one so that one is easy [Music] job one of the reasons it's been so hard for Paul to save enough money to move out of the mill is because of lagos' eratic electricity Supply daily power Cuts plague the whole city but in iout meta when the lights go out the SS go silent uh the problem of power is that when there is no work like this when the ne take light we stay and our money doesn't reach we doesn't collect any money so when there's light that is where we collect salary from the work that you do it's another 3 hours before the power comes back on and Paul and the boys are seriously behind and they' barely got started when everything suddenly comes to a halt I had news that one operator we go me that one that never pass one week we tell because of his stop work for two or 3 days one end ker like [Applause] regardless of the tragedy no one's earned any money today and knowing the whole Mill will be shut down for 3 days out of respect for the dead operator Paul decided to keep his soul working through the [Music] [Applause] night one so we not work tomorrow all operators will assemble somewhere else we will do meeting for [Music] [Music] that yeah [Music] it's midnight when they cut the last plank Sunday and a have been at the yard since 6:00 this morning it's not easy cuz we are sing not small so they tried a lot and I praise all of them so the work comes an end by this time so we close by this time you know R even though his house is full to bursting with his ever expanding family chw has decided there's always room for one more he's heard of a friend of a friend who is looking for a room to rent and has offered to help him out as most of the newcomers to the city don't have much money he's trying to get get the rent up front 28,800 Okay would it would not much than let me say 6 months pass 6 months Too Much I Feel to just give you everything because I know if you for your I know I know I know what you are say no no no no you it's a mirac working God can even reach the time that money coming I give you because I believe in him yes everybody believe in God we a human being we are only know today nobody know tomorrow except almighty God nothing we can do past God I just want to do this favor if we get like 25,000 look if you get like 2,000 you understand me bring that one I will be done okay okay all right all CH needs now is a room and to save as much money as possible he plans to build one [Music] himself I'm so happy because when you walk you do the work with happiness because if you do with annoyance the job will not fall [Music] 5 miles out in the middle of the Lagoon the logs which Moses cut from The Jungle a couple of weeks ago are making their way to e meta with a group of 20 or so other lockers Moses has made a huge raft over a kilometer long which is being told by tugs on the 3-day journey into [Music] Lagos it's not that I'm only the one that get this 3,500 but my own is a uh 100 pieces out of it so like why my friend they every person have their own offes Obama ameran Pres a couple of hours later the loggers reached the city center piloting a raft the length of nine football pitches through the arches of the third Mainland bridge is never easy and today the tide is against them they barely got 100 m through when the whole thing becomes [Applause] stuck almost immediately the first touts from IBU meta start appearing on the raft sizing up the cargo looking for the best early deals although Moses has been trading with them for years he knows full well that they're all out to rip him off 1140 despite all the activity on the raft on Shore everything is silent as Paul and the other operators show their respect for Baba toyan the man killed at his saw this is the machine that the the the operator died the C was on top of the handle of the machine that is how the electricity kill him the C of the machine connected at the wood and as connected at the wood he G the man and the man died instantly they never repair it that is why I can't touch it anyhow the C this is the c Paul and the other sore operators are having a collection to help pay for the Dead Man's funeral but with two of their friends killed in less than a month they're up in arms about the conditions they have to work in [Music] this the cops the cops of the man the PTO Association they are the ones that brought the cops that they use they want to use in taking the dead body to his hometown that's the last respect for the [Music] man Baba toin had worked at The Sawmill for more than 30 years he had two wives and seven children and he'd been planning to retire at the end of the year [Music] as a last act of kindness Paul and the others collect another few hundred naira to make sure the driver can get the family all the way home to their Village [Music] we believe this time around that every each and every operator will be using hand glue and rubber shoes so that we protect our lives from machine shock electricity and that is the thing that we did inside meeting this morning for us to protect our life because life have no duplicates as you can understand [Music] while the men sort out the funeral arrangements the small boys at the Mill are making the most of their unexpected downtime for Sunday and AES this will be the last day off for a while after working the night shift fumi has decided to keep them on [Music] permanently everybody is afraid of this work because this work is very Wicked but now it has now become our best work so we love the work that we are doing here I love working [Music] in daddy me [Music] Mommy since Chu performed the Black Magic Ritual on him his son Poo's Behavior has got worse he's done nothing to help out at home and while his dad's been struggling to build the lodger new room he's been out parting with his friends and now chw has had enough [Music] this evening tubes asked Pio to arrange for a second boat to help collect all the wood from a booty meta which he needs to finish building the new room [Music] for the following morning poo is supposed to be helping chew pick up the remaining wood but once again he went out all night and by the time chw gets home Pao is only just getting in to make matters worse chew's boat almost sank on the way home how we a child that you cannot do for me the Bible said that when you born a child train your child when he grown up he will give you rest this is what I'm doing [Music] [Applause] 11 uhh 5 uhh six it's Moses's last day in Lagos all his wood has been measured and this afternoon he's heading back to University to pay his fees all he needs to do now is agree the figures with his buyer [Music] 3 he's want to try to shoot me he's trying to shoot me and I I will not agree with him with the price7 they are too rugged you know Legos boy everything Shout Shout Shout Shout Shout they like to threaten you whether will come to their line that is the Lagos character Lagos habit they like to Sho their neighbors 500 for their own book is 550 Myla so you 250 350 56000 [Music] 4 hours later they finally agree a price total money is $89,400 now so I me to I'm very very active so I I'm not want him to beat me that that is why I'm strong and I'm strong my face [Music] thank you very much now this is the house that I want to pay this is my own house now despite all the setbacks Paul has finally managed to save the 15,000 naira deposit he needs to start renting his own place so this is where I I'll be living now then I will be out from the Su where I'm sleeping this is the new house that I get now the house get light but I will connect the remaining light there now as soon as possible when I enter inside the window the wood now is not good anymore but I will change the wood I put everything in order 1 2 3 4 5 6 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 the total money will be 15,500 so count this first you know Money Talks money do UND money R the world as you can learn so and because of money we are in in the city looking for the money fing for money but money is hiding up and down and we believe that one day we grab it we get it let we put my own key because this is their own key but yeah proud house owner money is Breeze is Flowing like air when it's come to poor man the poverty will change and the poor man will be rich and and that is the thing that comes to poor people and they become rich and they still like rich people enjoying today are rich rich richer and that's how I [Music] feel it's 2 months since chw installed his fish pond and thanks to his Loving Care the 200 sprats he put in have already doubled in size and see more you P more the job more we give them rapid gr he's finally managed to finish the new room and Joseph the lodger has found the money for the full deposit and is ready to move in any day now and the foreign fish smoking business is a roaring success selling all over makok and to cap it all even chew's magical mathematical formula has come good [Applause] this is what B brought foros for we a poor man to helping us so when you put a little money you get a big money you take a 29 win 4,8 a lot thank you it's a risky in this Lagos anybody came to this Lagos and he didn't have a sense he cannot get sense anymore because here if you are a fool they will learn you how to get sense if you are a dund United when they started to PL paper on you you will get S I see the napping I napping the two down that's 2531 the two enter I put 40 That's 9,6 plus 4,8 that's a 14,000 400 it's a big money if you are a mle when they play you up and down from there you will cre a green light you will see the road so Legos anybody come to Lagos if you not get sense you will go back with full sense because when they started to dribble you dribble you your eye will open so Legos is a city of no this is how it be so I want to give to my child now should go and collect the money for me with immediately effect and with automatic ality thank you chew and the others are just some of the 11 million people in the slums that give Lagos its unique character but all that might be about to change a new breed of politicians have drawn up plans to demolish the slums and turn Lagos into a mega city of the future in 10 years time is going to be great Lagos I believe Lagos is going to we are going to compare Lagos and London yes in 10 years time you will see people from London England Ireland would like to come to Lagos to come and have their maybe their their h [Music] dayss

Channel: Documentary Central

Views: 289,976

Keywords: Doco, Documentaries, Documentary, Episode, Movie, Movies, Online, Series, TV, lagos nigeria documentary, interesting facts, documentary 2023, documentary history, documentary movies based on true story, interesting facts shorts, interesting facts for kids, nigera, slum, rubbish city, slums, rubbish, life, living, welcome to lagos, series, documentary, documentary central, real stories, real people, free documentary

Id: rKdxCY152Eo

Length: 59min 48sec (3588 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 19 2024