Archives for April 2010

Some believe that where you are born will decide your future, but can you not shape your own destiny? Is it not down to personal determination to overcome adversity, or do you feel the odds are too heavily stacked against you?

Is this attitude holding Africa back?

The documentary, Welcome to Lagos, explores life at the sharp end of one of the most extreme urban environments in the world, through the eyes of slum dwellers - some living on rubbish dumps on land and water.

It shows them as they go about their daily lives, trying to make ends meet by scavenging for re-useable products from the dump, boiling blood from abattoirs to make feed for animals and dumping rubbish on the lagoon to make it solid enough to build - and rent - houses.

But critics say the documentary does not reflect the true state of Lagos. Mr Tafida, the Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK stated that, not airing other aspects of life in the city demonstrated lack of balance and fairness on the part of the BBC.