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family are about to leave Nigeria for the USA. He blameshis decision to emigrate on the economic state of thecountry. He still planned to vote in the presidentialelection.This overview of the series indicates the range ofbackgrounds of those involved. The first two of theseprogrammes actually fell in the sample week. Both DoyinAbiola and Dr. Kuti have lost family members who werein the forefront of the struggle for democracy in Nigeria.Each now continues to campaign for better conditionsand democracy for their fellow citizens. Doyin Abiolaspoke first, as the widow of the man who won theprevious presidential elections of 1993, but wasprevented by the military from leading the country. Asthe initial contributor she is the first to criticise thehistory of military rule in Nigeria. She comments:…the election was annulled and that was the beginning ofthe present mess that we are still in. He was imprisonedand he finally died there. The greatest tragedy that hasbefallen Africa is the introduction of the military intogovernment. (Lagos Stories: 22.2.99, 1950)Dr. Beko Ransome Kuti continued the discussion ofthe difficulties caused by military rule in the secondprogramme of the series. He described the origins of theCampaign for Democracy, which involved studentgroups, lecturers, unions and human rightsorganisations joining together in 1991, with thecommon aim of restructuring the country bothgeographically and institutionally. The film was shot inhis redundant medical surgery, where he was surroundedby the clutter of books and medical equipment which heis forbidden to use because of his political interests. Atthe time Lagos Stories was filmed, Beko Kuti had beenwithout electric light for four days. The lack ofinfrastructure in Nigeria means that many live withoutelectricity and water. He was writing to the relevantauthority to complain, but did not expect to see thesituation improve in the near future:We’ll see whether something will happen over the nextday or week or month. That’s the frustration we face.(Lagos Stories: 23.2.99)These two individuals, allowed to speakuninterrupted, presented as educated and dignifiedAfrican people, struggling to live within an iniquitousmilitary regime. They demonstrated a commitment toworking for democracy for the people of Nigeria, despiteconsiderable personal losses. Given the very brief timeallowed each speaker in the series, information about thehistory and political background of Nigeria wasnecessarily limited. So while viewers had an opportunityto hear these stories, there was little explanation of howthe circumstances of these people had arisen. TheChannel Four News features which were broadcast thesame week provided additional information aboutcurrent conflicts in Nigerian society. However, for thoseviewers who had access to the internet, more helpfulhistorical background and explanation were madeavailable in Channel 4’’s website. Limited numbers ofviewers therefore would have been able to complementthe series with a greater depth of information from thewebsite.Doyin Abiola’s criticisms of the military in Nigeriaare backed up by the website’s description of the brutalityof General Sani Abacha’s rule. Abacha seized powerduring the political crisis which ensued following theannulment of the 1993 election and Abiola’simprisonment.Throughout his regime Abacha showed a flagrantdisregard for human rights, freedom of speech anddemocracy. Thousands of people were detained, manyfled the country, killings and human rights atrocitieswere widespread. Minority movements that attempted tosecure control over their environments and oppose thegovernment were brutally suppressed.The difficulties described by Beko Keta with hispower supply and resulting lack of light could easily beperceived by viewers as the result of living in anundeveloped country. Viewers who also watched Channel4 News later the same week would have had access tocomments about the management of Nigeria’s oilwealth:They found oil here in the Niger Delta in 1958. But sinceindependence successive military and civiliangovernments have wasted all the money the country’searned from it. (Channel 4: 25.2.99, 1900)The irony of this situation also becomes clear with theinformation from the website:Nigeria is the only oil-rich country in sub-SaharanAfrica: oil accounts for 95% of the country’s exportrevenue.Other media sources of information were available onNigeria around the time Lagos Stories was shown. Thecandidate expected to win the impending presidentialelections was General Obasanjo. An Observer newspaperarticle on 21/2/99 stated that Obasanjo was militaryruler of Nigeria between 1976 and 1979. DuringObasanjo’s period as military ruler, the army and policeraided the compound founded by Beko’s famousmusician brother Fela Kuti, who was responsible forfounding the underground musical movement Afrobeat.DFID – July 2000 83