Africa Is a Country

America? Begging in Nigeria!

America? Begging in Nigeria!

By
Sonja Sugira

[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/10880234 w=500&h=281]

Courtesy of the folks over at This is Africa, I ran across this video of an (presumably) American woman begging in a market in Mushin in Lagos. If this is meant to be satire, it seems to me to fall particularly flat. It doesn’t help that the video was, as far as I can tell, posted without context or information, although according to TIA, it comes from Jelili Atiku, a Nigerian sculptor, performance and video artist (with whom I am unfamiliar). It is unclear whether everyone here is in on the performance, or whether the Nigerian people in the video are merely there to provide (unintended) comic relief. Judging from their reactions, though, most of them think (realize?) it’s a joke. But at whose expense? Perhaps, the woman at 2:19 sums it up best, “America? Begging in Nigeria! No you’ve come to cheat us.“

Further Reading

No one should be surprised we exist

The documentary film, ‘Rolé—Histórias dos Rolezinhos’ by Afro-Brazilian filmmaker Vladimir Seixas uses sharp commentary to expose social, political, and cultural inequalities within Brazilian society.

Kenya’s stalemate

A fundamental contest between two orders is taking place in Kenya. Will its progressives seize the moment to catalyze a vision for social, economic, and political change?

More than a building

The film ‘No Place But Here’ uses VR or 360 media to immerse a viewer inside a housing occupation in Cape Town. In the process, it wants to challenge gentrification and the capitalist logic of home ownership.