- 2 days ago
In the third episode of Season 10 of "Parts Unknown," Anthony Bourdain explores the vibrant culture of Lagos, Nigeria. The episode highlights the city's food, music, and the ingenuity of its people. Bourdain visits exclusive nightclubs, shantytowns, and the Computer Village, showcasing the city's diverse neighborhoods and culinary delights.
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00:00Prosperity is productivity, not just hard work.
00:13You can be very hardworking and still be broke if you are not productive.
00:30Your life condition today is an outcome of choices and decisions made in time past.
00:40Good choices, bad choices, easier choices, or no choices at all.
01:00In this beautiful world, I felt the cool rain on my shoulder.
01:08Found something good in this beautiful world, I felt the rain getting colder.
01:19Sha la la la la, sha la la la la la, sha la la la la la la.
01:27Sha la la la la, sha la la la la la la.
01:39Lagos, Nigeria's mega city.
01:42One of the most dynamic, unrestrained and energetic expressions of free market capitalism and do-it-yourself entrepreneurship on the planet.
01:57When you have a place of 20 million people, they have to eat, they have to wear clothes, they have to do all sorts of things.
02:03I mean Lagos is a testimony to the resilience and to the ingenuity of the Nigerians.
02:08Buy, sell, trade, hustle and claw.
02:17Make your own way, any way you can.
02:20Nobody does any one job in this country.
02:22They say you have to have three hustles.
02:24Yes.
02:25You see people making watches from scraps.
02:27They're people who make shoes.
02:29I'm wearing something that's made by a Nigerian.
02:32I provide my own water.
02:38I provide my own power because I have a generator.
02:41I have a inverter.
02:42There's an energy in Lagos.
02:45The hustle and the bustle.
02:47Nigeria, here's your boy MCD, Pondiswano.
02:55With a ridiculously overburdened infrastructure and a history of egregiously bent leadership, they long ago learned that ain't nobody gonna help you in this war.
03:06Pick up a broom, a hammer, buy a taxi or a truck, build a bank or a billion dollar company and get to work.
03:14I'll push myself.
03:19I'll do what I need to do.
03:20I'll do whatever it takes to take care of myself and my family.
03:23I can't do it.
03:24Let's go.
03:26Well, that's a great deal.
03:27Let's go.
03:28Come on.
03:29Come on.
03:33We don't know.
03:35Our future's just right.
03:39We've got some laid rest of where life goes.
03:43It's like a mayor of that hip and...
03:47am i on victoria island right now yes sir so this is the promised land this is manhattan
04:01victoria island the garden of dreams where the winners work and play
04:09there's money in nigeria lots of mostly from oil agriculture and services like banking
04:17lagos alone is the fifth largest economy in africa 9 000 millionaires and billionaires many of africa's
04:29richest people live here 50 years ago there were 300 000 people in lagos there are now almost 20
04:39million around 20 million there's a whole lot of people leaving wherever they were yeah coming to
04:44big city looking to get a job looking to make it big absolutely uh the smartest the fastest the
04:48best the brightest make it over here yep it's that place it it it'll make you or it'll break you sink or
04:54swim
04:56sheena peller owns quillox one of africa's most exclusive nightclubs i'd use the nightclub by
05:05myself my construction company
05:10banky wellington is an artist and businessman i'm a record label owner i'm an actor i'm a director i do
05:16videos and tv commercials i'm in advertising i'm in real estate i'm training to be a chef why work so
05:23hard i mean you don't have to hustle your life is good business is good why are you doing so many
05:27things that is just something that's just come on in nigerian you know there's the eternal nigerian
05:31optimism that tomorrow is going to be better than today come from why are nigerians so so optimistic
05:36i think that it's born out of necessity you know you're either going to make it or you're going to be
05:41screwed you almost don't have a choice you need to trying everything possible i must make it i must be
05:47successful
06:17right over there victoria island that's the nigerian dream right if i just hustle enough
06:39if i figure out a way i have a master plan god's help i'm going to end up over there
06:45it's close it's really close how do you get from here to there it's impossible the government and
06:52the people in power make poor people perpetually poor
06:58this is the other lagos makoko a city within a city this community has been in existence for over
07:06a hundred years this used to be a little fishing village yeah people started showing up no plan
07:11build your own house it's a community that has been built not based on government plan it is an
07:17ingenuity of the people how many people live here the whole waterways the whole waterways will be about
07:23hundred thousand
07:34And until you...
07:38...but all the more low light.
07:42The more well.
07:46I don't know if you are old.
07:49I don't know if you're old.
07:53You're old.
07:56You're old.
07:57You're old.
07:59It's a fully functioning barbershop, restaurants, groceries, hotels, hospitals, private schools.
08:23Self-made, self-run, self-policing, independent of everything.
08:32It exists because it has to.
08:37I mean, there's electricity, there's the water, all of this.
08:40You provide, yes?
08:41Yes.
08:42Edauto Agbeniji is a musician and activist.
08:44This government just started from nothing.
08:47Now it's booming and the government is coming to seize it.
08:51They want to get you out, right?
08:53Yes.
08:53They like to build hotels.
08:55Yes.
08:55Yami Mesu, the son of a neighborhood leader.
08:58But they've been forced to stop.
09:01No, they're not stopping.
09:02They're not stopping.
09:03We've been able to halt them.
09:05Two, three weeks ago, there was another community on the other side of Lagos.
09:09On the island.
09:10On the island.
09:10It was also demolished.
09:11Just come and demolish.
09:13These people living here, there are sorts of livelihood.
09:16The pain is on fishing.
09:17They are fisher people.
09:19So if you take them to the mainland, it's like taking the fish out of water.
09:22Out of water.
09:23You can't survive.
09:26You can't survive.
09:27You can't survive.
09:30What do we got here?
09:31This is called moyo.
09:32Moyo.
09:33We eat this with this cassava plate.
09:34We call it Eba.
09:36All right.
09:37I'm here with Gali.
09:38That looks good.
09:39Yes, my dad, yes!
09:40I'm here with Gali.
09:41Let's go.
09:41Let's go.
09:41Let's go.
09:41Let's go.
09:42Let's go.
09:42Let's go.
09:42Let's go.
09:43Mmm, good, delicious.
10:04All the children I see, go to school, what will they do?
10:11Will they stay here and take up the family business or are they going to move on?
10:17Some will grow up to become accountants, they will become professionals.
10:22But what would a lawyer do, what would an accountant do when there is no food?
10:28Most of the fishes that have been sold to the rich men in government,
10:33we're actually taken from this village.
10:36We need people that do fishing, do farming.
10:40But you're going to need lawyers.
10:42Definitely. Everybody needs everybody.
11:03I'll be in the village, I'll be in the village, I'll be in the village...
11:12Music
11:42To do well in business, don't just be religious, be hard-working and be full of ideas.
11:48You need all these to birth a real miracle.
12:12Where are we? Computer Village.
12:39Yes, this is Computer Village. It's your tech hub. They sell everything here.
12:43Mobile phones, computers, any kind of digital equipment you're looking for, this is where to find it.
12:48It's said to be a $2 billion market.
12:51Public money is generated in Lagos, not so much by oil, but by the free market,
12:56a Wild West free-for-all of private enterprise.
12:59It grew organically, not by government intervention.
13:02It just happened. It just happened.
13:04Everything is cramped into this small ecosystem.
13:06You have one small store, somebody selling mobile phones right in it,
13:10and in front of him you have another guy who's selling applications for the phones.
13:14A repair guy, he's right there, and it works. That's the amazing thing about it.
13:18Tunji Andrews is a journalist, radio host, and an expert on the Nigerian economy.
13:26The guys who fascinate me are these kids sitting there with phones all opened up.
13:30Like, if I want my iPhone repaired in New York, I have to go to the Apple store.
13:34I've got to wait online. I've got to say goodbye to my phone for a while.
13:37But here, they know how to take apart my iPhone, fix it, and put it back together.
13:40This is how the Computer Village ecosystem works, right?
13:43A young boy trying to make a better life for himself finds his way to Lagos,
13:47and one of his brothers, his uncles, is working here, and then he starts to learn how to repair mobile phones, right?
13:53Right.
13:54And sometimes I tend to think they do it with trial and error.
13:59So your phone might be just a practice.
14:02Right.
14:03Yeah.
14:04But they get there eventually.
14:05They get there eventually.
14:06And that's the success story of almost all the people you see here.
14:09Most of them came into this particular market with nothing.
14:12Okay, this is Stella's Kitchen.
14:14Oh, yeah, we're going to get some food.
14:16Exactly.
14:19Pounded yam is the ubiquitous starch of Nigerian cuisine.
14:22Here served with a goosey soup.
14:27A stew of goat meat, melon seeds, fish stock, and chilis.
14:43This is very, very good.
14:45So I've heard this market described as the perfect market.
14:49Now what does that mean?
14:51Right here you can find on the same street about 20 people doing exactly the same thing.
14:57So you go to the first guy and you say, hey, I want to repair my phone.
15:00He says, okay, I can do it for you at $5,000.
15:03Now all you have to do is look across the road and find somebody who can do exactly the same thing.
15:08And he knows that, right?
15:10So he starts to think to himself, I better give him the best price I can possibly give him.
15:14Right.
15:15So that I can get his market.
15:16Completely unregulated as far as prices.
15:18Completely unregulated.
15:19So it's really the free market at its purest.
15:22Exactly.
15:23Lagos has been able to grow and expand its borders.
15:26And that comes from the sweat of people on the street.
15:29Right.
15:30Once government interferes in private activity, more often than not they make it more complex.
15:35And they move it towards extinction.
15:40A lot of people are outside the tax net.
15:54Right.
15:55So the state government has to be very ingenious in trying to get taxes.
15:58Right.
15:59And they have oil.
16:06But they come over to us for now.
16:07Who really runs the streets?
16:08The de facto front line of law and order are «Aria Boys».
16:13The government tries to get people on the street.
16:17Like the foot soldiers.
16:18An «Aria Boys» crew levels street taxes on, well, everything.
16:22Reporting to their regional boss, a king of boys, taxis, buses, any target of opportunity
16:41pays.
16:42You don't depend on government, fine, but you're running your own business.
16:47Right.
16:48So you pay a bribe, because that's the only way to get things done.
16:53Every person seems to be tainted a little.
16:58Police, politicians, business leaders, everybody gets their piece of the action.
17:05It's a daily fact of life at Lagos.
17:08This is a big, oil-rich country.
17:18Why doesn't it look like Dubai?
17:20Well, I hate to be on this show and talk Nigeria down.
17:25You know what it is, because you hear all these things all the time.
17:29So, yes, there is corruption.
17:31It is about corruption.
17:32It's about the fact that the resources that are supposed to be used for people aren't
17:37being used for people.
17:38Qadaria Ahmed is a progressive journalist, editor, and TV host who moderates the presidential
17:44debates.
17:45Years of military rule meant that people were brutalized.
17:49There was a fight against thinking.
17:52There was an anti-intellectual movement.
17:54Absolutely.
17:55You were punished for...
17:57Shamed.
17:58Shamed for reading, for having an education, for aspiring to those things.
18:02Yeah, yeah.
18:03You saw a decline in education that continued for 30 years.
18:08The biggest obstacle in this country is the political class.
18:12Because what we've had, you know, in Nigeria is if you lose elections, you then jump to the
18:16other party and you win elections.
18:18And then if you lose, you go back to this other party.
18:20So it's the same people.
18:21They're going to fight tooth and nail to stay in office.
18:24And to keep the system the way it is.
18:32Pepper soup is the food of the night in dark places.
18:37It burns.
18:38It burns real good.
18:39Delicious.
18:41This is a very IT-savvy country.
18:44Nigerian internet scammers are world-renowned now.
18:47They're a tiny minority, I must tell you.
18:50It may not be a legitimate enterprise, but you've got some very smart, hard-working people.
18:55They're very talented.
18:56Imagine if they were all well-educated, if they had access to finance.
19:01I believe if you're a black person, whether you're African or you're African-American, you're
19:06never going to get any respect unless there's a successful black nation.
19:12It is unwise to hold other people, your employer, or even the government accountable for your success.
19:22That is the only way people are going to respect you.
19:25You must do it yourself.
19:26Queen Elizabeth came to Nigeria in 1959.
19:47In 1859, the 33 million people of England's most prosperous African colony were ready for independence.
19:57I sent me a text that says, are you aware of Nigerian psych rock of the 70s?
20:03Yeah, there was a war in the late 60s, and that caused a whole shift in the sound,
20:08because before the war was highlight.
20:12And after the war, it was rock and all sorts of sounds.
20:17This is mind-blowing, like amazing stuff.
20:33This was a game changer.
20:36It's as if everybody took acid at the same time.
20:40It was less the acid and more, let's just freak out.
20:47These new sounds, mutations on funk, jazz, and rock, marked an explosive change in Nigerian culture.
20:56How did it do when they came in?
20:58It was wildfire.
20:59Really?
21:00It was a massive hit.
21:02Temi Castro is a collector and aficionado.
21:04This is really where it started from.
21:13Uh-huh.
21:13Blow.
21:14They had a very trippy song, which I'll play for you.
21:16Yeah, let's hear it.
21:26This is freaky.
21:28That shit, the music, had to do a lot with the war.
21:46Nigeria's rebel eastern state, the Republic of Biafra, declared its independence.
21:50That music was needed to translate the darkness.
21:57Soldiers of the breakaway province suffered heavy casualties and ultimate defeat.
22:01A thousand Biafrans a day died of starvation.
22:04The music was a defiant middle finger to war, to corruption, and repressive military rule.
22:11You know how military dictators try and control everything.
22:13But of all the music of the time, nothing and nobody took it directly to the people
22:18in such explicitly confrontational terms as Afrobeat and its architect, Fela Kuti.
22:25The government were giving Fela a hard time because he was protesting by name, specific things.
22:31They identified him as an existential threat, and he was.
22:36People would show up at the shrine, like what's he going to say, what's he mad about today.
22:43Fela was an African superstar, a loud, persistent, and unwavering voice of opposition and resistance.
23:00People protesting, but they didn't name names.
23:03Fela would name names and say, you know, you're the...
23:06One, two, three, four, four, five, five, five, six.
23:31For one decade, Fela's voice was the only voice here, opposing the dictators, and he
23:55paid a very high price.
23:56His house was burned.
23:58He was stopped from playing.
24:00Fela died in 1997 of AIDS, after a social life that could be best described as complicated.
24:07He married 27 wives in one day, for instance.
24:10But he left behind an enormous legacy and a family, including two internationally celebrated
24:16musicians in their own right, Femi and Shun Kut.
24:20Because of Fela, we are able to voice our feelings today.
24:31Because of Fela, we are able to voice our feelings today.
24:44If things are not right, you can't just gloss over it.
24:48There is no reason why this country cannot be ten times better.
24:52Daughter Yeni runs this place, the new Africa Shrine.
24:56We have more money, we have more oil, but we have badly done.
24:59Both a musical venue and political pulpit, with a vital position at the epicenter of Nigerian
25:04music.
25:05So, you drink beer?
25:13Especially when Antonio is drinking beer, I'm drinking beer, too.
25:19How can you say because he's drinking beer, you're drinking beer?
25:22I'm a fan.
25:23Of him drinking beer?
25:24No, of him.
25:25No.
25:26I'm a fan of beer, too.
25:27But you know, he's drinking beer, I'm drinking beer.
25:28You grew up with your dad's compound.
25:30And I know at one point, he wanted you to become an area boy, and he thought that would
25:47be good street creds.
25:48That's to put it kind of mild.
25:50He just wanted me to be, like, from the streets.
25:55We've been running into area boys constantly through this week, and I kind of want to know
26:00how the structure works.
26:01If you wanted to go for election, for instance, you will need to see all the area boys.
26:06You'll have to give a lot of money for him to get all his gang members to vote for you.
26:12And if you do a good job in dealing with this, you probably would win.
26:17That's not quite democracy, though, is it?
26:19No, it's not.
26:21Nigeria is not really a, you know, democratic state.
26:30What is going on in Africa today for me, I think, is a perverse kind of hopelessness.
26:36Working for a system that is oppressing you.
26:38And you know it's oppressing you, but you've given up that there's nothing I can do about
26:41it.
26:42Is that what you've seen?
26:44Because, honestly, I've never been in a country where everybody are working so hard at something.
26:49They're hustling.
26:50They're hustling.
26:51Look, I've been to the DRC, Tagoma and Kisigani, and those were not hopeful places.
26:55Yeah, but Nigeria is the same way as DRC in the north, because we have the Boko Haram insurgency.
27:16But nobody wants to talk about it.
27:17Nobody wants to act as if it's as serious as, because in Nigeria, we play the game.
27:22We are the kings of the game.
27:23We were so proud when Nigeria arrived in Kenya for the African summit, because we brought
27:28the most amount of private jets.
27:30You understand?
27:31This is their mentality.
27:32They are all elitists.
27:33You know, they have yards, you know, in a country where 90% live in poverty.
27:39It's self-esteem.
27:40Self-esteem?
27:41Yes.
27:42That's, I see.
27:43Is that about what you own?
27:44Something like that?
27:45I don't think your self-esteem is about what you can buy.
27:46I don't think your self-esteem is about what you can afford.
27:47Excuse me.
27:48Is that what he said?
27:49As much as Nigeria is bad, there is hope.
27:53When I grew up, we were like kids.
27:58We couldn't sit here like this.
27:59The police would come here and beat everybody up.
28:01A generation will come where they will say, enough is enough.
28:04Let's take back our lives.
28:06Femi Kuti for president.
28:07Don't listen to him.
28:08FKFP, Nigeria resistance.
28:11It is the melody of the angels of death.
28:24Femi Kuti for president.
28:25Do not be afraid.
28:26Do not be afraid.
28:31The Hausa are the largest tribal group in Nigeria.
28:54Known originally as cattlemen, they've become powerful politically as well.
28:58This is dembe boxing.
29:13A very old and very brutal fighting art, deeply ingrained in Hausa traditions, particularly
29:19among the butcher class.
29:24It is a way for tough young men to earn a few bucks, prove themselves and break up the
29:34grim routine of their daily lives.
29:44All Hausa versus Hausa.
29:45Yeah, Hausa versus Hausa.
29:46Yeah, Hausa versus Hausa.
29:47Yeah, Hausa versus Hausa.
29:48He hit with one hand.
29:53Yeah, the other one is to block.
29:59Oh!
30:29I welcome you to the outside community, Agege, sitting beside you with the emir of Agege.
30:52You are welcome to our hungry family.
30:58Religious and intertribal violence has been a fact of life for years in Nigeria.
31:04There are over 300 tribes, and tens of thousands have died during such conflicts.
31:11In Lagos, some are trying to rewrite that narrative.
31:18The neighborhood of Agege is a melting pot of different tribes and religious groups.
31:23This was originally a Yoruba area, yes?
31:26Yes.
31:27So people have been living here for a very, very long time, cooperating very...
31:33...marriages in between us and them.
31:36So that is why we are, there are a lot of understanding.
31:39Masa, rice cakes made from Nigerian sticky rice, sugar and potash, a mineral-rich salt.
31:47This is fura, it's made from millet and milk.
31:53It's more like yogurt, slightly sour.
31:55Yes.
31:56Oh, that's great.
31:57This is one of the surprising foods.
31:59It's also made of beans.
32:00This is all beans?
32:01Yes.
32:02Yes.
32:03Danwaake.
32:04Danwaake.
32:05High-protein bean flour dumpling served with tomatoes, onions and a peppery sauce.
32:10Mmm, delicious.
32:11The moringa.
32:12And moringa salad, made from the leaves of the zogala tree and said to have medicinal properties.
32:19Kuli Kuli powder is a garnish or condiment made from ground peanuts.
32:24What do you see the future of this area and your people?
32:28Anything relies on education.
32:31We promote both Western and Arabic knowledge.
32:35The whole Africa or even the whole world is represented in Lagos.
32:40So we have to work together.
32:42The prophet of Islam, Muhammad, he lived with Christians and Jews peacefully without any problem.
32:50We believe if there is no peace, there will be no progress.
32:53You cannot go to mugs, you cannot go to church, you cannot go to school, you cannot go to work.
32:58We love Lagos.
32:59We love peace.
33:00And we pray to Almighty Allah to continue living in peace.
33:04God bless Lagos.
33:06God bless Nigeria.
33:23Good cooking takes time.
33:48As more and more Lagosian men and women enter the workforce, fewer and fewer cook the old way.
34:00Long, low and slow preparations that can take hours.
34:03The Lagos upbeat style makes it impossible for you to cook everything at home, so you go, you buy from the street.
34:17So who blogs about food here?
34:20We all do.
34:21We all do.
34:22We all blog about.
34:23Yeah.
34:24Atim, her mom, Iq, and friend, Oz, are all hard workers, holding down multiple jobs between
34:30them.
34:31But they hang on to their fierce love of food and cooking.
34:34Who were your readers?
34:35Primarily Nigerians.
34:36Homesick Nigerians also, I would think, in the States.
34:38Yes.
34:39Particularly homesick.
34:40But then people that are married to Nigerians that want to learn the cuisine.
34:45These days, one often eats quickly at a place like this, yakoyo, serving traditional Nigerian
34:53dishes made the way they should be made.
34:56This is called awetu, it's jute leaves.
35:01Awetu is a soup from the Yoruba tribe, crayfish, chilies, locust beans, and jute leaves.
35:08Mmm.
35:09This is good.
35:10Have you had jollof rice?
35:12It's rice cooked with?
35:13Tomato sauce.
35:14Spiced tomato sauce.
35:15Yeah.
35:16It's almost like Spanish red rice.
35:21Jollof rice, a staple across West Africa.
35:25Country of origin?
35:26Don't get into that issue.
35:28It's contentious.
35:29All I can tell you is it's delicious.
35:32Now, who runs these businesses?
35:34You walk in and you see an old lady sitting by the corner.
35:37Yeah.
35:38Her eyes are darting.
35:39Yeah.
35:40You know, she's checking.
35:41She's counting tables, you know.
35:42Has the girl brought back my money?
35:43Yeah.
35:44So she sits there to control her money.
35:46In the back, you see a guy cooking big batches to refill.
35:50Goat meat.
35:51Okay.
35:52This is pounded yam.
35:53Of course.
35:54Yes, I've seen.
35:55And this is amala.
35:56Pounded and cook it kind of like this.
35:57No.
35:58No.
35:59No.
36:00No.
36:01No.
36:02No.
36:03No.
36:04No.
36:05No.
36:06No.
36:07No.
36:08No.
36:09No.
36:10No.
36:11No.
36:12No.
36:13No.
36:14No.
36:15No.
36:16No.
36:17No.
36:18No.
36:19This is yam, raw, sliced, ground into a flour and then cooked into a meal.
36:20Yeah.
36:21Yeah.
36:22Yeah.
36:23raw, sliced, ground into a flour,
36:26and then cooked into a meal, a bit like grits.
36:29Yes, yes.
36:33It's about what you want, how you want to combine it.
36:38So you don't tilt your glass when you're pouring there?
36:41I do, obviously.
36:44Man, you guys are harsh.
36:45No, no, no, no, no, no.
36:46I'm gonna be weeding about myself on your block.
36:48He's an animal at the table.
36:51Food here is really, really good.
36:53We're seeing quite a bit of evolution going on.
36:56We're not all sit-at-home moms anymore.
36:58Not many people want to pound the arm.
37:00She certainly does not want to pound the arm.
37:02And I'm sure when she's getting married,
37:05one of her gifts to her husband's house
37:07would not be a mortar and a pestle.
37:09From like 20 or 30 years ago.
37:11It would be a food processor, most likely.
37:13And personally, I think maybe people,
37:16women my generation might have failed people like her
37:20by not passing things on.
37:21But now, thanks to food bloggers,
37:24the younger ladies have an avenue to get this information
37:30without depending on their mom.
37:31How much interest in food is there these days?
37:35More?
37:36More.
37:37Nigerians are big on meat.
37:38Yes.
37:39Oh, yes.
37:40A few vegan chefs, people.
37:41Wow.
37:42Vegans?
37:42Yes.
37:43Yes.
37:44In Nigeria.
37:45I think that shows you just how large you are.
37:48People are finding their niches.
37:49Yeah.
37:49But you know, that's for a certain social class.
37:53The bulk of the people still, I mean,
37:56they don't have access to the internet.
37:57I don't think they care.
37:58They don't care.
37:59Yeah, that's the thing.
37:59You know, the guy just wants to feel his tummy for the day,
38:02you know.
38:02So, yeah, food is changing, but it's not a revolution yet.
38:32And these kids, with no education, now they're fixing iPhones.
38:46I mean, imagine if they were all well-educated.
38:53They say that where there's a will, there's a way.
39:02And there is plenty of will in Nigeria.
39:10Find a niche, create a business, build a home, a school,
39:14a community, or look beyond to creating a new society.
39:27Andela, co-founded by Ayanolewa Aboyeli,
39:31and run in Nigeria by Senni Suleiman.
39:33It's a rigorous training program that teaches coders and engineers
39:37with the goal of creating no less than a continent-wide ecosystem
39:41of high-value software developers.
39:43My mom had a, like, a mobile shop,
39:45something like what's in Computer Village.
39:46And, like, that's where I grew up.
39:47Like, she'll sell mobile phones, they'll fix it there.
39:50And she just used to run that.
39:52I tried looking for a job, but the jobs I got, I'm like,
39:54no, I don't want to be a salesperson, I don't want to be a secretary.
39:57So that's where I got in the program, right?
40:02Shalom and Blessing are trainees in the program,
40:04people who will someday rewrite the way Africa works.
40:08As you can see, there are a lot of issues in Nigeria today.
40:12The average Nigerian is struggling to just food, water, clothing, shelter.
40:16We all believe that this will change,
40:18and we all believe that it will change that.
40:20In the U.S., for every software developer that's looking for a job,
40:23there are five openings, which means there's a massive opportunity
40:26to get these awesome people who are really smart and really driven
40:29to be ready to take on Africa's challenges.
40:32But that's what's special about this place.
40:33I mean, most people are kind of resigned to the reality that they have.
40:38We're creating an alternate reality,
40:40where there's always going to be power for you to do your work.
40:43Yeah.
40:44You know, you can...
40:46Africa, it should be stressed, is home to seven of the ten
40:49fastest-growing Internet populations in the world,
40:52with a huge, young, and mostly untapped labor pool
40:56of eager and ambitious people.
40:59The impact, in a very short period of time, is incredible.
41:03Before we started, people would rarely hire African developers,
41:06and now they can.
41:07Many of us have been products of multinational experiences.
41:10I grew up in Nigeria, spent time in Paris, went to the U.S.,
41:13and eventually I came back home.
41:15We're all connected, we know what's happening around the world.
41:17And you ask yourself, if that's happening literally just a few hours
41:20by plane away from here, why is it not happening here?
41:22Technology is going to change this continent.
41:25There is no other place in the world where you have the opportunity
41:28to build the future from scratch.
41:30It's for me and you to run, run, run, run, run,
41:35revolution now, revolution now, revolution now, revolution now.
41:42Where will Lagos be in ten years?
41:45Or twenty?
41:47Change is inevitable.
41:49The problem's enormous.
41:51But the desire, the hope, is there.
41:54To change, not just Nigeria, but the world.
41:58We've got all the conditions for a revolution.
42:03You revolution must be televised.
42:06You revolution must be televised.
42:08Run your revolution.
42:10Television revolution.
42:12Don't just build a CV, build a life.
42:15Be better in real life than on paper.
42:19You revolution Ahh Football
42:21You revolution understand
42:23You revolution
42:25gravity
42:26emotions
42:32Problem
42:35You
42:35You
42:37You
42:39You
42:41You
42:42You
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