Eating in Africa’s Biggest Floating Slum!! Seafood Factories!!

How many times have you been to Makoko? Once they drive to the Tomeran Bridge, they see Makoko as a nice city. What would you do to improve Makoko? Lagos, Africa's most populated city, is also home to the world's largest floating village. Look at that, the smoke is just billowing out of here. What? That's just like a big piece of plastic playground equipment. Oh man, we are in the middle of a traffic jam right now. Thousands of residents living in homes above the water, resting on stilts. Ever since I was born, I've been living on water. We have thousands of our men that don't go to the land side because whatever they need here is underwater. Here you'll find one of the most unique cultures anywhere. Whoa, this is like a floating grocery store right here. From the food... I feel like I snorted a jalapeno. ...to the local economy. We have a group of people that are based in fishing. But each day, their way of life is being threatened. As big as the communities, there's nothing I can point out and say this is what the government have done. The only time the government need us is time for election, time to vote. Welcome to the water city of Makoko. Skimming through a labyrinth of waterways on a small wooden boat. Leaving the land behind, entering Nigeria's city on the water. Hello. Folks here get their sea legs from a young age. There's no other option. Kids, adults, they maneuver from boat to boat with ease and precision. But some of us, some of us still need time to adjust. Please do not flip this. Here, amidst the winding waterways and chaotic clattering of boats, there's a system that makes sense. Did you hear that? Yeah. What is that? A way of life that only locals know. This is a church. It all starts on the boats. Boatmen picking up their first passengers of the day. Fishermen preparing their nets and heading out to sea. Kids coming back from church. They have those here too. And hawkers. Whoa. Self-contained floating food markets offering goods on the go. This is like a mobile grocery store. Here she's got a little bit of everything. We got rice, flour, chilies, some instant food, noodles, onions, tomatoes, like everything here, all on one boat. It's like online we have a lot of hawkers. So this is probably like hawking because she's moving around. Oh, so she's presenting her offerings to each home. Yeah. Like a floating market, providing essential ingredients and snacks from morning till afternoon. On a good day, some can make up to 3,000 Naira, around seven bucks U.S. Hello. We found another snack boat. And she has more ready-to-eat foods. So tons of beer, water, soda. What's this one? Did you make these? They call it kokata. Can I have two kokata? Two, please. Oh, these look awesome. It looks like sugar keeping a bunch of nuts together. That looks delicious. Thank you. And we're back on the road. Yeah, let's try this out. Cheers. No. Mmm. Yo, that's outstanding. Just like sweet syrupy sugar holding together all these roasted nuts. I love it. I feel like we're in Venice. You know Venice? In Italy, they have the canals and they push people through the canal. It's very romantic. You don't know what I'm talking about, do you? Oh, boy. How many times have you been to Makoko? I can't count. You can't count? Many times. At first, I used to come to just hang out in the building, and then I came to see Makoko, and now I'm coming again. I can't count. How do you feel when you come here? At first, when I came here, I'm not going to lie, I was heartbroken because I didn't even think something like this would exist. There's so much energy here. We can't really do this. And I believe that Nigeria's greatest resource is in the people. And there's so much resource here that we are wasting. I want to kind of work with it to make it a little bit better. I don't think it needs to be brought down. I think it needs to be made better. Made better, improved. Improved. Some say it's the world's largest floating city, the Venice of Africa. Makoko was not planned, but born of human necessity. This place started as a fishing village settled in the 19th century. Wow, what is he making? That looks awesome. Hello. Look at this. Oh, for fishing. Wow. Now, it's home to more than 200,000 people. Most of the structures here rest on stilts above the Lagos Lagoon. It's a spectacle that can't be missed as you cross the nearby mainland bridge. I've been here for just a couple hours today so far. No doubt there is struggle here. But as I look around, as I look in people's eyes, I see the kids here, like, they're smiling. Like, look at this kid. What is he on? That's just like a big piece of plastic playground equipment. That's a boat. Like, here, people are just finding a way to make it work. As far as I can see, life in Makoko is tough. But that sentiment isn't reflected on the faces of its inhabitants. To get a better understanding of how this place works, we've been given the opportunity to meet the man of Makoko Village. First of all, before we get into the interview, this is probably the most terrifying place I've ever done an interview. Really? Yeah, while I'm at the edge of here, there might be some structural issues in this general area, but I think I'll be okay. I won't push you. Taiwo, thank you for joining us. Yeah, thanks for coming. Have you grown up here? Yes, I was born here on water. Taiwo's father was named chief after Taiwo's grandfather passed away at the age of 115. Soon, he himself will be expected to take on this responsibility. How deep is the water here? It's five feet. I'll be okay. Yeah, so if you fall in, you're going to be this far over. If you fall in, just stand up. Are people using this water for anything? No, this water here, we don't use it for anything. We have a bottle where we get our drinking water from. The only time we use the water is when it's raining season. The kids jump into the water to learn how to swim. That's pretty important here, I think. Do you know how to swim? Yes, I do. Nice. Since you were born, you've been here in this village growing up. How has this place changed since you were a kid? We have a bar where we catch on every Sunday. We go there to dance. If you want to bob your hair, we have a bobbing salon, a hair stylist. But the changes I can ever see so far is the kids going to school because before, we don't go to school. Living in Awatai is part of our culture. Everybody is based on fishing. When your dad is going out for fishing, you go with your dad, you learn how to fish. Fishing is a primary means of livelihood for the Makoko community. This single industry drives the economy here, so it's an essential generational skill for nearly everyone. The women work the market. The men work the boats. Cruising into the ocean, dropping their nets, and bringing back something to sell. Have you done shooting like this before? Not really. Not really. What's harder, fishing or shooting? Yeah, fishing. Fishing's harder? Yeah. Well, that seems obvious. How old were you the first time you came out here and learned how to fish? When I was eight or five years, I started going with my dad to learn how to fish. Yeah, when I got to the age of 12 years, sometimes I go with my friends. When I got married, my father had to tell me to go on my own, so that whatever money I make, it has to be me and my wife. Ah, okay. In a good day, how much fish is a fisherman bringing in? When it's rainy season, we make much money. But right now, if you go in this time, we make like $10,000, $7,000, sometimes $5,000. Like $20 a day? Yeah, because we have a lot of people who are into fishing now. Lots of them. In this process, I can say the women make much money than the men. So we just have to come back with the fish. So we give the fish to them, so they take it to the market. If the price changes, they know that's in the market. We don't know about it. So when we come back, we scale the basket for them, $2,000. So they pay us our money, $2,000. So they can go outside and sell it, $10,000, $5,000. That's not a problem. So the men work the boats and the women work the market? Yes, the market. This is like the next step of the fishing process. After you net the fish, you come here to a smokehouse. Yes. When I was on the second floor looking across Makoko, there's smoke coming up everywhere. Are these smokehouses everywhere? Yeah, you know, like I said, Makoko is a fishing village. You know, all the smoke you see coming out, these are the smoke of fish. Every house have a house where they smoke the fish. If you build a house, you must build a place where you smoke your fish. Have you had this kind of fish? Yeah, you know, it's crazy. Every time my mom buys this all the time, I think every single family online buys this. And I'm just now realizing, wow, this is actually where it comes from. Right, this is the origin. Yeah. How are you doing? You seem a little sad, like you're tearing up. I have very sensitive eyes. Oh, the smoke. Oh, I thought you were getting emotional about smoked fish. I am, actually. What kind of fish is this? This one, we call it bala. Bala. The fish are placed over coals, where they'll smoke and dry out for over 12 hours. From here, these fish are distributed throughout the city and surrounding area, except for some times when they're eaten here first. Preparation for dinner is underway right now. We're cooking up food. I should say, she's cooking up food for about 10, 15 people. This is Lydia, Taiwo's wife and also today's chef. I'm lucky enough to be invited to join a meal with three very local, very common dishes in this area. On the side here, this is the smoked fish we saw earlier, and I think I'm going to try it out. Can I eat this? I can eat it? Look at that. It's like a fish eating its own tail. All right, I'm going to break it. I pull its foot out of its mouth. The flesh comes off the bone pretty easy. It's not super dry. It's not like a jerky. It's just still soft inside. Did you want some? Oh, you do? Awesome. Cheers. Mmm. It's soft. It's not a super strong taste. A bit smoky, which is to be expected. It almost, like, mopped crab legs. You guys know that. Oh, you guys ate real crab legs? I didn't know anything about that growing up. It's a little sweet, a little smoky. That's good. And plentiful. I mean, this is getting eaten all the time in this village. How do you say yummy? Odoo. It's sweet. Yeah. Okay. I thought it was yummy, but it's sweet too. Mmm. Cooking is underway. The three dishes use panla fish as their main protein. What makes each dish stand out is the sauce. First up, onut chonit, white onion, salsa, a mixture of tomatoes, red chilies, and red onions. Salt to taste, then add the fish. Next up, oe fluflu. Palm oil is added to a hot pot. More onions, more salsa, then crayfish seasoning, salt, and finally, a generous portion of dried fish. Finally, kali dodo, a thick stew with the same familiar ingredients. Look at that. But this time, she adds even more onion, water, dried fish, and cassava flakes. Mixed and boiled until it becomes thick. How many people are living here? We have more than 200,000 people. But the children are more than the adults. Oh, there's more children than adults. In this Makoko, we don't have support from the governments. The only time they need us, time for election, time to vote. Right. It made a lot of promises. When it got to the power, nothing has been done. Hygiene, pollution, poverty. This is just the beginning of the problems here at Makoko. What all the government needs from all this is to take us away from here. Because they said Makoko is the center of Lagos. And most of the rich people want to stay here. That if any visitor comes to Nigeria, he surely wants to visit Lagos. So once they drive to that Tomodan Bridge, they see Makoko as an eyesore. That's why the government is fighting to take the community away from us. The government and this village are at an ongoing standoff. A lack of understanding between the two sides has long led to tense conflicts, uncertainty and further suffering. There's no doubt this is a special place, uniquely full of energy. It has its own color and culture, built by a resourceful, perseverant community. These tough conditions have produced tough people. But still, all people need opportunity to thrive. Let the spoon go down. Yeah, take it from the bottom. It smells fantastic. That means thank you. Oh, thank you. Yo, hold on. There's some food under the table. What is it? We call it kana. Kana. Ah, it's like a maze. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, so this is going to be like my fork, my spoon, my knife is right here. Yeah. Right? So I can just grab a piece like that, scoop up some fish, scoop up some oil. Whoa. Oh man, that is spicy though. That is delicious, but that is spicy. Oh, I like spicy. I like spicy too, but man, I feel like I snorted a jalapeno. You like this one? This fish is so good. It's so intense, but it's got like smoky, meaty fish and then a ton of spice to it. Is that your second bag? Ah, that's the ---- right there. Okay. Do you know everyone in this village? Everybody. So every time you're going down the street here on your boat, it's all people you know. Friends, family. You see when I'm going, people start calling me Thai food, Thai food. How often do you have everybody like this? That's when we have a party. Oh, it's a party now. I'm here. I like people here are powerful. Well, that's just a Sunday afternoon for you. Yeah. No big deal. I didn't try this one because this one is also like also fish, also tomato. But then they've got some cassava flakes to thicken it up. Bro, that's delicious. This is no joke. I thought I love this one, but I love this one more. I'm like, I'm cheating on this one with this one. So I was talking to her earlier and I said, just being here for a short time, maybe half a day now. I'm so impressed because obviously there's struggle here, but you wouldn't know it from the way everyone's acting. You know, everyone's upbeat, loud, happy, smiling, dancing, singing. It's just very impressive to me. What do you think is the future for Makoko? Yeah, I think the future for Makoko now is, let me say, education. That would be the best. I think once they start going to school, they start learning other traits from outside. They start learning other work to do. Some of them can get work outside and live fishing. But do you think kids are getting educated but staying here? Or is the goal to get educated so they can move out and do something else? And that's okay with you? The people watching this video, is there anything they can do to help? Just like before, we do it every month. The oily, murky water and trash didn't come from these residents. It's the result of city water drainage pouring directly into this neighborhood. So when they go to the council, they say they don't know about the money. So right now, strangers come and want to help the community. So what we do is that we tell them to come directly, not to go through the government. Because once they go through them, they will tell them to submit the money. Once we give them the money, nothing will be done. Like many issues in Lagos or around the world, the solution seems simple until you dig a little deeper and discover a web of complexity that will likely leave you feeling helpless. But change starts with hope. And it's fueled by action. This is probably the coolest, most remote, unusual bar I've ever been to in my life. I like the vibe in here. Right, it's a good vibe. So last time you were here, you were actually contributing by doing some art. Yeah, they painted that tiny little square. That's a nice contribution. What kind of deeper look did you get today that you missed when you were here last time? A lot of things that I didn't fully understand until now. Obviously, I know now where the dirt is coming from. It's not their waste, but it's the waste that's coming in from the city. Right, it's other people's waste. Yes. Is there something you personally want to do? Oh, ever since I've come here, my plan is to clear up the city. I don't want people to come here and tell them to move because it's not as clean. I want people to come here and see my cocoa as part of the good things that our country has. It might take time, but I hope that I have the patience and the consistency to keep going as I have since I found it until now. I think it's definitely an enormous task, but absolutely it's a place worth putting resources into. Cheers. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. From researching and shooting to editing and mastering, our 10-person Best Ever Food Review Show team works hard to roll out the highest quality travel food entertainment twice a week. If you like what we do here, please consider supporting our Patreon. Patreon allows fans of the show to contribute a monthly sum and receive a load of extras like early video releases, private Q&As, and beyond. To learn more about our Patreon, check out the link in the description box down below. And if you can't give or don't even feel like it, that's okay too. We're just happy you're here. Thank you to Nekashi for joining me for this epic journey here in Lagos, in Nigeria. You can follow her on her Instagram, as you see here on the screen, and her many adventures this year and beyond. That is it for this one, guys. We will see you next time. Peace. Alright, this is the first time a co-host has been taller than me. Freaking me out. Don't worry. Young shall grow. The young shall grow.