My heart breaks every time I guide tourists in Makoko. I have witnessed on many occasions how human beings live in a terrible environment. Is Makoko suitable as a tourist destination? Does Makoko have the characteristics of a tourist destination? The community's living conditions are inhumane and shameful to the country.
What are the characteristics of a tourist destination? These characteristics will attract tourists to carry out their activities. Makoko lacks essential tourism infrastructure: comfort, accessibility, tourism resources, and facilities.
Have you ever heard of "slum tourism"? It is also known as "ghetto tourism," "poverty tourism," "trauma tourism," etc. According to Human Rights in Tourism, "slum tourism involves touring marginalized and impoverished areas that tourists would normally never visit."
Slum tourism refers to the practice of visiting impoverished areas, often in urban environments, to witness firsthand the living conditions and experiences of the residents.
It is poverty that attracts tourists to Makoko; meanwhile, visitors are drawn to destinations by compelling unique attractions, cultural experiences, local events, captivating landscapes, and creative storytelling.
Every time I take tourists to Makoko in Lagos, I feel like I, and others, are exploiting someone’s misery for our own benefit because the visitors pay for the boat to take them around the impoverished community, the area boys and local contacts will get their share, and I get a tour fee. The question I am asking myself is this: do visitors really enjoy seeing the poor living conditions of others? What is pleasurable about witnessing other people's misery and pathetic lives?
The top five most popular slum destinations in the world are: Rio de Janeiro's favelas (Brazil), Mumbai Dharavi Slum (India), Kibera Slum (Nairobi, Kenya), Makoko Slum (Lagos, Nigeria), and township tours (South Africa).
There are risks in taking visitors to a slum like Makoko or any slum. You can only visit such a place with someone who is well known by the local inhabitants. In some cases, important personalities need to be accompanied by bodyguards or police officers.
What happens when visitors visit such a place? Everyone in the community will notice "the stranger." People and children will stare or throw hands in anger against taking photographs. Sometimes they will wave their hands and say words that literally mean "greetings," and sometimes recognize the skin color of the visitor if he or she is not an African.
A slum tour in the township of Soweto in South Africa differs from the slum tour in Makoko, Lagos in Nigeria. The living conditions and unhygienic lifestyle of the inhabitants are pathetic. It has stalls on water, and there are food hawkers that sell their commodities from canoes. The water is black as a result of the stench from the different households, and because of the lack of adequate toilet systems, excreters are seen floating on the water.
A tourist once asked a resident if she or her children ever get sick because of the pollution and unhygienic nature of the environment they live in. She responded in pidgin english, "We no dey fall sick, na only malaria, typhoid and cholera dey catch our pikin" (We don't fall sick, we only suffer from malaria, typhoid, and cholera).
Can the Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Ade-John, visit Makoko, walk, and take a boat ride within the slum and enjoy it? Tourism should be pleasurable, but is the so-called "slum tourism" appealing, comfortable, is it accessible, does it have any tourism resources and facilities?
There was an incident during the tour with the National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees at Makoko. The American tour group brought school bags, writing pads, toys for children, and hundreds of loaves of bread. As soon as the children from other stilt houses saw that the tour leader was sharing bread, they jumped into the filthy water and started to swim toward us.
As a result of the struggle, the foul-smelling water was splashed on Tiana's body. She looked at me piercingly, pulled out one of the t-shirts to be given out as gifts, and used it to wipe off the filthy water from her body. She was murmuring as she was cleaning off the stench. She said, "I need to get back to the hotel and have a hot bath." They immediately stopped the distribution. All gifts were handed to one of the youth leaders.
Can we compare the poverty in the Dharavi slum of Mumbai in India to that of Makoko in Lagos, Nigeria? There's no basis for comparison because they are both characterized by abject poverty.
The Dharavi slum became popular after the release of the film "Slumdog Millionaire." Visitors want to be sure that people live in such a poverty-stricken environment. They want to be sure it is real. As visitors tour Dharavi, the slum tour increases, but what value is it to the people living there?
Makoko slum in Lagos became popular because the living conditions of the people were unbelievable. It began with individual visits, then group tours. Families and non-governmental organizations also began to visit and donate items. As it became popular, tour operators began to add it to their itinerary. This is solely because international tourists have read about it and may have watched videos of it, and some of them personally request it.
The solutions are for certain initiatives that had been established in Lagos State to be managed well. It's essential to focus on environmental, social, and economic sustainability. The community should prioritize respect, fairness, and transparency in all practices.
In reality, some people take advantage by exploiting the conditions of the community. The five vital components of the tourism system are attraction, accessibility, accommodation, amenities, and activities. These components are delusive in Makoko. The community may not be suitable for tourism, but visiting it might be the only way people will be aware of such areas that the government fails to look after.
Anyone who has visited Ganvie in the Benin Republic, with its houses on stilts on the lake, will understand why Makoko is not suitable for tourism. It is the opposite.
The Makoko community partly originated from fishing laborers from the Niger and Benue rivers, Ondo Creeks, Benin Republic, Togo, and Ghana. If the government were concerned about the welfare of its citizens, the situation would not have degenerated to the level it is today.
The communities need education and social support. What value is it when visitors only come to look at the miserable lives of people? Visitors who come on sightseeing tours are not of any use to the people. An alternative approach should be for the Lagos State Ministry of Building and Infrastructure or necessary government agencies in charge of citizen welfare to ensure fair compensation, community engagement, and respect for the residents. In the future, a well-managed prototype floating tourism village can still be redeveloped.
I think "slum tourism" is a shame for any nation. I don't encourage tourists to take pictures here in Makoko. Yet, you will see international visitors ready to take pictures. What kind of pictures do we take in a place that is not befitting for human habitation?
Let me add that some tourists prefer to take pictures in unpleasant places in Nigeria rather than significant ones. I have only noticed among the African diaspora that the beautiful places I take them to in Nigeria excite them, and they want to share them with the world. They like to take pictures.
Amb. James Akeem Anago-Osho (also known as Anago-Osho) is an Ambassador for DNA Tested Africans, he serves the African diaspora as a bridge to reconnect with their African heritage. Anago-Osho, conducts special tours and promotes heritage, community and sustainable tourism. He is a renowned tour guide, cultural diplomat and advocate of African perspectives in African historical curation.