The BBC's Africa Obsession

Thank goodness for Freeview. Otherwise, I would never have realised the extent of BBC Africa coverage. BBC 3 and BBC 4 are probably the main culprits. From the Lost Kingdoms of Africa, shown on BBC4, to BBC 3's coverage of the African Cup of Nations, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was the colonial era. But the jury's still out on whether balance and objectivity have triumphed over condescension and neo-colonialism. The BBC has some brilliant and truly gifted journalists and documentary makers who, over the years, have managed to make some very complex and highly emotive African issues more accessible to the mainstream UK audience; young and old. You only need to see the manner in which the much-talked about Welcome to Lagos program was produced - modern (and at times hilariously quirky) music juxtaposed against African shanty town-smoky slum - to realise how the very best documentaries are increasingly unconventional. And perhaps they sometimes have to be controversial to pull an otherwise apathetic audience. This post is not intended to pass judgement or critique the content of the BBC's Africa documentaries. Instead it seeks to shed light on why the BBC 'Africa Obsession' (that's what I call it), however controversial, is still better viewing than the revolting Murdoch empire. I'm not sure many Sky News journalists can locate Africa on a world map. Ok that may be exaggeration. But the point remains. So long as we Africans ourselves have not figured out the most effective and far-reaching means to tell our own stories (good and bad), others will do it for us. And when they do, and do it well, we will applaud and emphasise the fact that it was the Africans being potrayed that made the story good, not the producers. When the producers do it badly, we will also be quick to take snipes at their patronising and 'empiristic' state of mind (Sorry Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, I had to!). So I wait with baited breathe for the first episode of 'An African Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby', airing on BBC2 on 30 May at 9pm. Those who criticised the potrayal of Lagos in Welcome to Lagos will be hypocrites if they believe that Mr Dimbebly's sojourn with Aliko Dangote, Nigeria's wealthiest business mogul and his private jet, is a more accurate reflection of the country. The point is both documentaries will only ever be half-truths, however seemingly accurate in their own right. The truth is, there are fewer Nigerians who are Aliko Dangotes than there are Nigerians who leave in slums like the Vocal Slenders of this world, in Welcome to Lagos. My interest in BBC Africa docu coverage is not whether I think the content is always right or not. Africa is so diverse and colourful that any documentary, however hard it may try, will almost always be slightly skewed in its accuracy. The real BBC obsession with Africa is an obsession of balance. Sometimes documentaries try too hard.

PS: The irony of the Welcome to Lagos documentary controversy is that Vocal Slender has now become a household name in Nigeria's music industry. It's fair to say that if his story of struggle against all the odds hadn't been aired on the BBC we probably wouldn't have heard of him today. Yet another brilliant instance of when the intended impact of a situation or condition results in an accidental, almost 'Divinic', outcome.

Watch this space for my commentary on Dimbebly's Africa travel series.