Original subtitles

MICHAEL PALIN: 'It's the start of my second week in Nigeria

'and I'm in the northern city of Kano.'

Hi. MICHAEL CHUCKLES

'101 uneven steps take me to the top of Dalia Hill,

'one of the few vantage points of this city.'

Now, this is the... really, the old city of Kano,

which has been here for many, many hundreds,

if not 1,000 years.

A very, very important city cos it was the end of the trading route,

came from Morocco, across through Timbuktu and down into Nigeria.

It's a much older city than Lagos.

'Kano looks and feels utterly different to the south of Nigeria.

'It's also the starting point of my road trip

'into some of the most challenging and dangerous parts of this country.

'Nigeria...

'..often perceived from the outside as prone to corruption...'

SIRENS BLARE, SHOUTING

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

CHANTING: 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 make it the third-most populated country

'in the world by 2050.' Wow.

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

One ticket to Abuja, please. HORN BLARES

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

'..across an extraordinary land known as the Giant of Africa...

'..a vibrant country where 60% of the population

'is 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 complicated 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 me getting anywhere.'

We're in really serious trouble now.

'As I enter my second week here,

'I'm hoping to get a better understanding

'of the differences within Nigeria.'

This is like a tribal mark.

'I get a sense of what the future could hold...'

Yeah, it's a bit like being in California.

This is almost like a pilot.

You can do this all across the country.

'..and discover that some Nigerians feel

'Britain's colonial influence...'

Oh, yes.

'..Is still holding back this beautiful country.'

One of the worst things that happens to Nigeria

is the advent of the British.

Kano is a city of over four million people,

the majority of them from the Hausa ethnic group,

unlike Lagos where most people are Yoruba.

Which group you're from is very important in Nigeria.

I'm in extreme culture shock... Yeah.

...and suddenly into this.

It does feel very different.

Yeah, Kano is like the commercial city of Nigeria.

'Mohammad Adamu, a university lecturer,

'is helping me navigate my way through Kano.'

So, what distinguishes where we are and north Nigeria?

Is that it is Muslim?

Yeah, the majority of the north are Muslims. Yeah.

Ancl majority in the south are Christians. Yeah, yeah.

So that's the basic, and also the culture.

Yeah, because here is more of Islamic culture. Yeah.

Ancl the south is more of Western culture. Yeah, yeah.

But I mean, this is...

The history here, I just feel there's a much longer history...

Yeah, longer history. ..than there is with the south.

Yeah, exactly.

'North and south Nigeria were effectively two different countries

'until they were united by the British in 1914.

'But the north is still rooted in its own traditions,

'and Mohammad suggests we head to a park in the middle of the city

'to witness an ancient Hausa sport.

'All of these people are arriving to watch Dambe boxing,

'which dates back to the 10th century.'

So, we go in? I have no ticket. OK.

You all right? I don't have a ticket.

MOHAMMAD LAUGHS Oh, I have it.

'As we enter the arena, I notice there's hot food for sale.'

Not so sure about that.

OK, it's exotic from the, like, intestines, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

I'll give that a miss. Yeah.

'I'm told it's intestines.'

It's so noisy. Yes.

DRUMMING, CHANTING

'Dambe boxing is hugely popular, and most nights,

'people come to watch a series of men and boys

'take to the ring for three-minute matches.'

SHOUTING

So, what's the...?

What's the rules of this particular game?

I see one hand is open,

the other hand has a... like, a boxing glove or just tape.

Yeah, they tied it tightly on there.

Yeah. They have to make your hands like this.

Ancl then they tied it tightly. OK.

Yeah, and sometimes, it's painful for them, actually, yeah.

Yeah. Like, the longer it stays like this,

the longer it's painful for them.

'Apparently the fighters used to dip their bound hand in ground-up glass,

'but the practice has now been banned.'

Yeah, some of it looks strange.

They're holding hands, and then suddenly,

the other hand comes up.

Yeah, it's all the tactics. Yeah, yeah.

The tactics to make you slow, but the other,

each of them is trying to punch each other.

It's crazy. MOHAMMAD CH UCKLES

Yeah, there we go. Whoa!

Oh, wow. Yeah.

So, when the blow strikes, it's pretty hard.

Yeah, it's pretty hard. Yeah.

You can see some of them have, like,

patches in their faces because of the punches. Yeah.

Ooh! Oh, look at that.

Yeah, yeah.

'Matches are held almost every night of the week,

'and the men are paid around £40 for each fight.

'and the men are paid around £40 DRUMMING CONTINUES

DRUMMING CONTINUES

'Like many people in Nigeria,

'Mohammad has distinctive scars on his face.'

Your marks, did you mark... mark yourself?

Oh, yeah. This, I... This is, like, a tribal mark.

OK. Yeah, my mum did for me this when I was, like, seven days old.

So my mum did this for me,

so to identify that this is my tribe.

So this is like a tribal mark. Yeah.

Yeah. So you...

Do all your... the young men of your tribe have that?

Yeah, my siblings, they all have that. Right, yeah.

'It's hard not to notice how young some of these boys are.'

So, I mean, there's a lot of boys here of different ages,

the young ones as well... Yeah.

...that I've seen around the stadium. Yeah.

Are they, are there a lot of sort of unemployed young men?

Yeah, most of them, they are unemployed.

They have no specific work to do.

So this is, like, what they do to... for their livelihood.

'Northern Nigeria has some of the highest levels of poverty

'in the country,

'and some claim that unemployment among young men is around 70%.

'And with the average age being 18,

'it means that there are a lot of young men in northern Nigeria

'searching for a purpose.

'Unfortunately, some of them are drawn towards

'the ever-present threat of extremism

'and the terrorist group Boko Haram.

'At our hotel the next morning, I wait for the arrival of someone

'whose life has been changed forever by the terrorist group.'

More than a week on from a mass kidnapping of schoolgirls

in Nigeria by lslamist fighters,

numbers of children still missing has today been put at more than 230.

The group involved is called Boko Haram,

which translates as "Western education is sinful".

The scale of the kidnapping has shocked Africa's richest country.

On April 14th 2014, 219 girls aged 16 to 18

were kidnapped from their Christian school

in the town of Chibok in north-eastern Nigeria.

The kidnapping shocked the world and led to a high-profile campaign

to bring them back.

CHANTING: Bring back our girls now, and alive!

In the last ten years, over 100 of the girls have escaped,

but many others remain with their captors or have been killed.

One of the girls who escaped is Amina Ali Nkeki,

who has travelled to meet me from Borno State,

which is on the border with Cameroon.

It's part of the country that has been deemed too dangerous

for us to visit.

'It's not comfortable talking about something like this,

'but Amina wants to tell her story.'

Amina, thanks very, very much for just coming to talk to me.

It's very kind of you, and it's very nice to meet you.

Could you tell me what happened on the day when you were kidnapped?

That clay on 14th in the night, around 9PM,

I start hearing this sound of gun,

shouting, calling names,

and they just break the school gate and entered and calling just,

"Hey, hey, is it anybody here? "You have to come out,"

said, "We are the army. We are here for you." Right.

They said they were army, and they weren't.

Yeah. Yeah. They were lying, yeah.

So we just come out and gather together,

and they just start shooting the gun. Ah.

Ancl for now, we now realised

that this is the Boko Haram people, not army. Not the army.

It's a very, very sad clay for me.

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

but I couldn't.

'Amina and the other girls were taken to a remote forest

'by Boko Haram where they lived for over a year.

'The girls who were Christian were put under pressure to convert.'

What was life like with Boko Haram?

They just ask us that...

..are we going to become to the Muslim or not? And...

Are you going to convert to Islam? Yes, yeah. Yeah.

And we say, “no“, and they say, “why?

So we just tell them that since we're... born,

we don't know anything about Muslims,

so we are not going to be a Muslim.

So you're quite feisty in a way.

You... You were able to talk back to them.

Yes. Now, what did they...?

How did they react then? Did they get angry?

Did they get physically violent towards you? Yes. Yeah, yeah.

'Eventually, the girls converted,

'agreeing among themselves it was just a pretence.

'But soon after, Amina was told

'that one of her captors would become her husband.'

They say that, OK, if you didn't get married,

you are going to be a slave.

A slave. Yeah. Yes.

Ancl if you choose to be a slave, no food for you.

Ancl then we can do whatever we want to do with you people. Yeah.

Ancl I say, for me, I just think and I say,

"OK, it's better to get married," to know that, yes...

I stay with the one person rather than...

Being a sex slave. Yes, with different people.

Mm.

'Amina married one of her captors and had a child with him,

'but after a year, the three of them decided to escape

'and spent many days trekking through forest

'before they were found.'

Who was the first person in your family

that you saw when you escaped?

The first person I saw is my mother.

Yeah. Your mother? Yeah.

And that must have been an amazing moment. Yeah.

The two of you coming together after so long. Yeah.

I just open the car and come out, and before my mother turned,

I just hugged her... She must have...

She starts crying. I don't know what she just...

She's crying, she was crying,

and I was telling her that, "You don't need to cry."

"You have to be happy

"because you should thank God that I'm alive."

They just took my baby and hand over to her,

and she just call it my baby.

She said that, "ls this my grandchild that I'm holding?"

Her lovely, if shy, daughter is now eight years old

and Amina is studying at university.

Ooh. Ah, here we go.

There you are. Say hello to Mummy.

Yeah. Want to go to Mummy?

Yeah, I think... Oh, dear. CAMERAMAN CH UCKLES

Scared of the camera? Yeah. Wow. Oh, wow.

'But while Amina is starting to rebuild her life,

'almost 100 of her school friends are still held by Boko Haram,

'and the terrorist group continues to be a threat to life in Nigeria.'

Good morning. How are you? On the road again.

'The next morning, it's time for us to leave Kano,

'and we pack up for the first stage

'of our 800-mile journey across Nigeria.'

We're beginning the road trip south from Kano today

first of all to Kaduna.

And actually, this particular stretch of road

has been attacked several times.

Bandits operate there.

Until just about a week ago,

our people were advising us not to travel on that road.

Security couldn't... couldn't guarantee our safety.

'As we set off,

'there's an undeniable sense of tension in the air.'

HORNS BLARE

'The first part of my road trip across Nigeria

'is almost too smooth.'

So far, I suppose about 20 miles south of Kano,

and one thing I've been told about Nigeria

was that the roads are in a terrible state.

This actually has obviously been recently paved.

It's very, very smooth that I could, you know, nod off.

MICHAEL CHUCKLES

This section of my journey will take us down

to the city of Kaduna before we head further south to Abuja,

the modern capital of Nigeria, eventually arriving in Lokoja,

once the centre of Britain's colonial rule.

Long drives can be tedious,

but they also give a unique insight into a new country.

From small roadside markets to my first real view

of the Nigerian countryside.

But danger is never far away.

This is the town of Zaria on the way to Kaduna,

and just last week,

four people were abducted and killed here in Zaria.

Anyway, this is sort of centre of recent troubles.

But minutes after we pass Zaria,

we arrive somewhere that is a bit surprising.

Ooh, this is very swanky.

Very swanky.

Suddenly, off of a road next to a township of tin roofs,

we find all this very good nick.

Wow, what a surprise.

This is the Fifth Chukker Country Club,

a luxury hotel with pools...

...private villas...

...and a clubhouse.

It's all very tranquil

and has a very different feeling

from what I've experienced so far in Nigeria.

I can't really believe this after where we've been,

you know, Lagos and Kano where there's noise all the time

and there's always six people around you.

And here we are, there's not just water,

there's lots of water - there's a swimming pool,

I mean, that I could swim in, I suppose, I wanted to.

It's just... This is the kind of moment when you forget

which country you're in, this sort of oasis here of...

dare I say it, luxury?

But this is more than a hotel.

Look at this.

It's also a polo club.

Suddenly, I feel I'm home again, I'm in England, and yet I'm not.

You know, it's like what we've been through.

We've seen markets, we've seen crowded streets.

We've seen sort of people pushing around,

selling you stuff, and suddenly,

here you are in the middle of a polo match

and still in Nigeria.

Ah, that's one. Someone's gone.

And this is quite...

And the scale of it, it's pretty fantastic.

I think I'm probably in a dream and will wake up any moment now.

No, it's the real thing.

Polo first came here in 1904

when Nigeria was part of the British Empire.

It remains a popular sport, especially in the north,

where horses have been central to life for centuries.

SHOUTING

Ooh.

I've arrived in the middle of the Charity Shield tournament

featuring both local and international players.

just as it is anywhere else in the world,

polo in Nigeria is mostly a game for a wealthy elite.

Very good.

My job was marking today. CH UCKLING

Marking, more marking. MAN: It worked.

It worked, clearly. Look at the scoreline.

I'm meeting Nigerian-born,

but Harrow-educated and Sandhurst-trained Folarin Kuku.

It's always occurred to me, you know, is it...?

It's a tough game, do you get physical injuries as well?

Oh, absolutely, absolutely.

I mean... What kind of thing?

I mean, someone once told me,

"You're not a proper rider unless you fall off."

Right. So, yeah, I've taken a few falls.

You've fallen off? I'm pretty experienced, I'd say.

You're a British Nigerian, right?

I'm Nigerian Nigerian. You're Nigerian, are you?

But I was educated in the UK and have citizenship in the UK.

Yeah. Ancl then I schooled there,

worked there for a bit, joined the army.

Some crazy times. So, was it the British who...?

I mean, because coming here today,

we've been in markets in Lagos and Kano,

here, with all this lovely space, it's like a sort of English garden.

I mean, was it the Brits who... who started polo here?

Polo, like a lot of sports around the world,

were moved around with the British military. Oh, right.

I think the first people to play polo in Nigeria

were the Royal Navy in Lagos around 1905, 1910-ish. Yeah.

So, yeah, the British did bring it,

but like most parts of the world, we add our own flavour.

Yeah. Why do you think it caught on so much?

Was it throughout Nigeria?

Was it this northern part of Nigeria where it caught on most?

Well, the northern part of Nigeria has the equine culture.

But, I mean, the game itself, it's such contrast,

as you obviously know, between what we've seen and hear,

you've got to have a bit of money to play this game.

ls there enough money around in Nigeria?

Yeah, I mean, yes, of course, there are extremes,

and Nigeria is a country of extremes.

But again, it's what you can put into it.

The thing that keeps polo going, actually, is the grassroots

and the access to polo. Yeah.

'Even if you do need a bit of money to come here,

'it seems to me that Fifth Chukker is determined

'to confound the stereotype of northern Nigeria as a no-go area.

'It's a symbol of Nigerian aspiration.'

I mean, this is more than just a polo ground, isn't it?

I mean, it's a luxury resort.

Is that...? Is that the future of this place,

to bring in not just polo players and fans, but others?

Yeah, I think... polo's a great draw in itself.

Yeah. And especially when we're kind of out of town here,

people need a place to stay, so that was the foundation.

I mean, I'm thinking quite broad brush here,

but this is kind of like a... almost like a pilot.

If you can get people to where places like this exist,

you know, you can do this all across the country.

How do you see the future of Nigeria?

Are you optimistic?

Everyone says Africa has a resource curse

because of oil and gas,

but actually, our oil and gas is not our resource.

Our resources are our people and our culture

because we're such a diverse cultural group of individuals.

'I'm not saying polo clubs are the answer,

'but I am starting to get a sense of the Nigerian dream.

'Tomorrow we head to Abuja, the brand-new capital city,

'which I've heard is a vision for the country's future.'

Early the next morning,

I find myself back in everyday Nigeria.

LIVELY CHATTER

This is Kaduna Railway Station.

Everyone here, including me,

is hoping to catch a train to the country's capital city.

Well, I love trains.

I'm quite excited to be at the railway station.

As you can see, it's not smooth at the moment, progress.

The reason why we're taking the train, actually, to Abuja

is that we were advised this whole stretch

is a difficult security risk,

but the idea is that taking the train is actually safer

than going on the road.

One ticket to Abuja, please.

OK. Thank you. OK.

Very careful... ticketing going on.

Hey. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Ticket! Ticket to Abuja.

I've been told Abuja represents a new and prosperous Nigeria,

which probably explains why so many people are heading there.

I'm on a O05. SV8... 5.

Thank you. That's right. Oh, good. Thank you.

Or maybe it's just the brightly painted carriages

that are drawing people in.

Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Righty-ho.

13, 14, think I'm here. Oof.

Ah.

Well, being on a train again,

that's something about South Yorkshire lads.

We feel comfortable on trains, you know.

YORKSHIRE ACCENT: Polo's all right, but it's not for us.

Being on 'orseback wouldn't suit the lads.

We could do it on bicycles. HORN BLARES

Bye, Kaduna.

This is terrific, train leaving a station.

What better sensation?

HORN BLARES

My journey will take me 150 miles to the centre of Nigeria.

As we head south,

the landscape becomes increasingly lush and tropical.

This railway is almost brand new, having been opened in 2016

at a cost of $1.6 billion.

Like many infrastructure projects in Nigeria,

it was constructed by a Chinese company.

TAN NOY: Attention, please.

This is to inform our distinguished passengers

that we will soon be arriving at Kubwa train station

in the next few minutes.

Abuja station is also brand new, and its sleek, modern design

wouldn't look out of place in Beijing.

This is at the heart of a major sort of investment in transport,

largely Chinese money.

This probably cost millions, and the idea is that, eventually,

this will be the heart of a complex of railway lines

which goes right through to Lagos.

So this is the transport system of the future.

As we drive into the centre of Abuja,

it becomes clear that this is very different

from the other cities I've been to in Nigeria.

They're building everywhere, cranes everywhere, sort of,

and new blocks being built.

It's obviously a place on the make, you know, the buildings too as well.

They're all fairly new.

They've been built in the last 20 years or so.

So there's a general feeling that it's in pretty good shape.

It's got... I mean, the road system here has all been planned -

wide boulevards, tree-lined avenues.

I think it's the space, actually.

There's room to move here.

It's... you know, it's a bit like being in California, in a way.

Abuja is a relatively new city

and has only been the capital since 1991.

Its position in the centre of Nigeria

was seen as a way of uniting the country, making it a capital

for all the different ethnic groups in Nigeria.

Designed by American architects with wide, tree-lined avenues,

Abuja is a vision of a new Nigeria.

It's also the home of Nelson, our security advisor,

and he's very proud of Nigeria's brand-new capital.

What are the advantages of life in Abuja? OK.

So in Abuja, we have all government agency headquarters in Abuja. Yeah.

Ancl then we also have lots of administrative activities

and buildings here in Abuja.

It does seem to be, you know, long, straight roads,

everyone behaving themselves... Yeah.

...which seems to be a little bit sort of un-Nigerian.

THEY LAUGH

Well, the reason why you say Abuja seems quiet

is because there's a lot of discipline.

Ah, right. There's a lot of discipline.

We have good access roads everywhere. Yeah, yeah.

Whereas in Lagos, you know, the traffic gridlock.

Do you think this is a pattern for the future of Nigeria?

It's supposed to be a model for all the cities.

I believe, gradually, Nigeria will work towards attaining

this same model everywhere. Yeah.

Good. Well, come to Abuja, everybody.

NELSON CHUCKLES

Makes Redhill seem like a boring Surrey town.

THEY CH UCKLE I'd like you to live in Abuja.

Oh, would you? Yeah.

OK. We'd have some good fun, wouldn't we? Of course!

We have clubs, we have lounges, we have restaurants,

we have everything. THEY CH UCKLE

Good health care for the ageing. Good health, yeah, exactly.

That's what I want, really. Exactly.

We have... I need my daily fix.

Of course. THEY CHUCKLE

It has been said that for all its wide roads,

Abuja is just a little bit dull.

But it does have its quirks... and this is one of them.

Well, there aren't many cities in the world

where you'd find a plane built on top of a house, as you have here,

and it was built by a businessman for his wife,

who loves travelling, and probably given her everything,

what more could you want, but an aeroplane on top of your house?

I mean, even I haven't done that.

Arguably, Abuja's main attraction lies just outside the city.

It's one of the most distinctive and famous sights in all of Nigeria,

and it's huge.

This is Zuma Rock.

It's 300 metres high to the top,

and it's one kilometre across the top of the mountain there.

And it's the centre of Nigeria, geographical centre of Nigeria here,

which is probably why Abuja was built here.

And you don't get a feature more than that

to underline the heart of the country sort of standing there,

just fantastically impressive.

One of the most distinctive features is the formation

of what looks like a face in the rock.

You can see the couple of eyes up there.

So, I mean, I should think this probably has

great spiritual significance.

And a lot of people must feel that this is an awesome presence.

I feel that, certainly.

HORNS BLARING

The next morning, it's time to leave the capital

and drive south to the city of Lokoja,

from where Britain once ruled Nigeria.

Well, we're now heading south on our way through a very...

...heavily populated country. HORNS BLARE

After a few miles, we enter a part of Nigeria

known as Kogi State,

and road conditions take a turn for the worse.

Well, I've just seen a sign from the local politicians

campaigning under the slogan "Make Kogi Great Again".

Well, it could certainly start with the roads.

Ooh. We're gonna have to hold on tight.

Because we've really lost our smooth, broad surfaces

further north,

and it's now... the surface is... it's potholes.

As Abuja's bubble of modernity recedes into the distance,

I realise that I'm back into the slightly harsher realities

of the rest of Nigeria.

Three hours south of Abuja, the landscape changes once again

as we find ourselves surrounded by water.

We're driving to the city of Lokoja where the Niger and Benue,

the country's two main rivers, converge.

Where are we now? Crossing the Niger River.

The greatest river in West Africa.

Over 2,500 miles long,

the vast Niger River originates in Guinea

and eventually releases its waters into the Atlantic Ocean

on the coast of Nigeria.

And at the point where the Niger meets with the Benue River

is a city that is to be my home for the next couple of nights.

Well, this is Lokoja.

Think of African hustle and bustle again,

trading going on either side of the road.

Lokoja, the main city of Kogi State,

and it's busy, loud and extremely hot.

But as we pass through a busy roundabout,

it's hard not to notice a very enthusiastic traffic cop.

It turns out joy Onoja is something of a local celebrity in Lokoja.

It's about 40 degrees centigrade and extremely humid here,

but her energy seems endless.

May I...?

May I have a word and say how much I admire your performance?

Thank you. I'm very glad, too. We're from London.

God bless you. It's great... That is fantastic.

Thank you, sir. How do you do it? How do you...?

How do you survive in the heat? I love the job. I love it.

How do you keep fit? Yes, I love it.

Yeah. I love Nigeria Police Force.

Oh, yeah, you do. I love it very well.

And did you make up your own rules? Yes, I'm very happy.

That is why I love Nigeria Police Force.

That is why I do the job to my satisfaction.

Yeah. God bless you.

It doesn't look like a job. It looks like a sort of routine.

Yeah, that is why you see me...

Very good. ..when I'm working.

Yeah, yeah. I'm very happy because I love the job

since I was brought up to join the Nigeria Police Force.

HE CH UCKLES God bless you, sir.

Thank you very much. Thank you. I'm grateful.

I really appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

JOY by name and joy by nature.

I'm not sure anyone has ever been quite as happy

to be in the Nigerian Police Force.

SHE SHOUTS, HORN BEEPS

There is another side to Lokoja,

something that binds this place to Nigeria's colonial past.

From 1882 to 1960, Nigeria became part of the British Empire,

and this city was effectively the first capital

of a united Nigeria.

There are still buildings from the period of British rule here,

which of course must be treated with the utmost respect.

This house here was actually shipped out in kit form from England

for a man called Frederick Lugard,

who, if anyone can be called the creator of modern Nigeria,

it was him who, in 1914, brought together the Northern Protectorate

and the Southern Protectorates of Nigeria into one entity.

So I suppose, yeah,

that was the first time Nigeria became Nigeria.

And quite an interesting fact, quite interesting,

is that his friend at the time was called Flora Shaw.

She was a journalist, and she it was who wrote a piece for the Times

and said, "Perhaps they could call this Nigeria."

By bringing together these very different regions,

Britain also brought together hundreds of different ethnic groups

into one constructed country,

and many blame continuing divisions between these groups

as being the root of problems that plague Nigeria to this day.

When he was based in Lokoja,

Lugard's favourite place to come was Mount Patti.

Well, we're now, with a bit of difficulty

climbing up to Mount Patti, which overlooks Lokoja.

Oh, yes. Wow. There I can see.

Oh, yes. Fantastic view.

Now, that is a mammoth view.

That's extraordinary, isn't it?

That's natural beauty of Nigeria, which is... yeah.

I didn't know what to expect, but I didn't quite expect this.

The view is spectacular.

Lugard loved this place so much that he built a small cottage up here.

There are now statues of him and Flora Shaw next to it.

But I'm not sure that many Nigerians want to celebrate

the days of the British.

I decide to ask my friend and fixer, Chriss Nwobu,

his feeling about the impact of colonial rule.

Chriss, can I ask you what have the British ever done for Nigeria?

THEY CHUCKLE

Well, for me, this is my personal opinion and my take...

That's what we want. ..| think one of the worst things

that happened to Nigeria is actually the British incursion into Nigeria.

Should there have been a Nigeria?

Was it the good thing to do to create one country?

There were nations here of different people

before the advent of British into Nigeria,

and these different nations of peoples were having

their different activities, doing businesses among each other.

But the moment the British came in,

then this whole concept of divide and rule, you know,

that was introduced, you know, started splitting people apart.

Ancl that has continued to be, to play out till this clay.

The British were known for adopting divide-and-rule policies

in colonised countries,

pitting different groups against one another.

And some say these divisions remain.

British used to like to lump places together, give them a name,

underline the name, put it in a file,

and that's that, you know.

It's too complicated to think of too many nations.

Lorcl Lugard first starts with the name Nigeria.

Yeah. Ancl we are stuck with it today.

But having said all that... Yeah.

...we have been together as a people...

...in quotes, as Nigerians, you know, for a period of time. Yeah.

So I think that instead of dwelling on the past, is for us,

especially the younger generation, to chart a new path.

How do we make this place a special place for us

that we as Nigerians will be very proud of?

When you see a Nigerian anywhere in the world,

they walk tall, you know?

I believe in the collective strength also,

you know, a country of over 200 million people.

That's a force to count with, to reckon with.

But we can only make it better ourselves.

I do not believe in... aid or whatever, yeah.

You make your home what you want it to be.

Lokoja marks the halfway point of my road trip.

I've been in Nigeria now long enough to get some impressions,

and, I mean, we had the power cuts all the time,

transport isn't great, the roads aren't great,

the infrastructure isn't great.

But the thing is that the country itself,

there is such a sense of... of potential here.

There are things which I like about Nigeria,

and there are things which I feel very strongly about

which is actually people's sort of energy.

I'm learning about the history. I'm learning about their background.

So far, I just feel

it's been hanging on by your fingernails sometimes

to sort of keep... keep up with the pace of the country.

But the more you get into it,

the more you get into the rhythm of the place,

and perhaps the less one should make judgements about it...

...because there's a lot that's great here.

So, um, good morning, everybody.

ALL: Good morning. I hope we all rested well. OK.

It's time to leave Lokoja and drive to our next destination, Benin.

So, basically, we are going to be driving through areas

that are regarded as red zones.

Before you take up any activity in the course of this trip,

consult the team lead.

We have radios in all the cars, we're wired with GPS.

We need to maintain a very high alert level.

'Local elections in this area have turned violent,

'and there have been several bandit attacks on the roads,

'which themselves are in a perilous state.'

Well, this morning, we're leaving Lokoja

and travelling south to Benin.

And this is gonna be one of the longer journeys we'll do,

longer times on the road, and the road is... is a bit dodgy.

And once again, we're in... we're in a slightly difficult area.

We'll see how we go.

Even with more armed guards,

there is a distinct feeling of doubt over whether we will reach Benin.

'Next time...'

SHOUT I NG, ALARMS BLARE

I've never seen anything like this.

'Nigeria's roads become something of a problem.'

We're in really serious trouble now. HORN BLARES

Oh!

'Feelings about the British run high.'

What are you doing here? Well...

I want to talk to you about these white people.

'In the Niger Delta, I discover the terrible price this country

'and its people are paying for oil.'

This river is dead.

'And I witness worship on a scale I've never seen.'

SINGING, CHEERING

What a roar!