District 9 v Independence Day

For the past two weeks or so everyone has been asking me the same question over and over again: “have you seen District 9?” At first I would answer no and not give it much thought; that was until last Tuesday when a fellow Nigerian asked me that same question, and this time I got a little inkling into why everyone have been so excited about the movie.


He described how the movie had portrayed Nigerians as cannibals, prostitutes and gangsters, and that the name of the gang leader had been a play on former Pres. Obasanjo. What was most interesting about our conversation was not the description of the negative representation of Nigeria, but his final statement; he said, “The sad part is, we have done this to ourselves”.

Google: “District 9, Nigeria”

As soon as I heard this I was on the internet and put a search through Google. And OMG was I amazed by the search results. The first one I opened was by the BBC. The article described the outrage of the government at the movie. It quoted Information Minister Dora Akunyili as saying:


"We feel very bad about this because the film clearly denigrated Nigeria's image by portraying us as if we are cannibals, we are criminals… The name our former president was clearly spelt out as the head of the criminal gang and our ladies shown like prostitutes sleeping with extra-terrestrial beings… I have also formally written to Sony Pictures Entertainment, the company that produced this film, demanding an unconditional apology for this unwarranted attack on Nigeria's image”.


I thought “wow, was it really that bad” ? I then called up all those people that had been asking me if I’d watched the movie, and asked them why they were so eager for me to watch the movie (I didn’t want to put words into their mouths so I didn’t say anything about Nigeria). To my surprise no one really mentioned the part about Nigeria until I finally asked; then they would say “oh yeah, they were the prostitutes and sold catfood to the aliens” . One of the people I had spoken to simply wanted me to watch the movie because of the production style; the transition from documentary style to the regular Hollywood movie. So, on the face of it, none of these people I had spoken to had taken much notice of the Nigerian characters, and the fact that I had to prompt them to remember the Nigerian representation said to me that maybe it wasn’t as bad as the Nigerian government was making it out to be.

Two Tickets Please

The following day I went to the cinema with a friend. I had stopped reading the reviews and reactions so that I would be able to remain objective when watching the movie and my reactions would be genuine.
The movie got me hooked from the get go, I loved the unique documentary/‘Blair Witch Project’ kind of approach, something that I had not see in sci-fi movies before. The actors and director Neil Blomkamp were all unknown; Peter Jackson the producer was about the only known name in the opening credits. I had almost forgotten about the Nigerian issue when suddenly a group of dangerous looking men came on screen, and one of the commentators in the movie said “The Nigerians…” And just as everyone had said, Nigerians were the gangsters in District 9, selling Catfood (which I presume is meant to represent drugs) to the aliens, dealing in arms and prostitution amongst other things. I waited to feel offended but surprisingly I wasn’t!

It’s Just a Movie?

Watching District 9 through to the end, the main message that came across to me was not about the negative portrayal of Nigerians, nor was it about the portrayal of South Africans as aliens - because as you all know District 9 was inspired by events that happened during apartheid and particularly the area in Cape Town called ‘District 6’ which was until 1966 a slum occupied by black South Africans. On the contrary the message I got from the movie was about how discriminating human-beings can be in general.


“Maybe we need to watch the District 9 again and see that the heroes and villains in the film are not as obvious as one imagines. Perhaps the aliens, being the victims of hatred and oppression by humans, are the heroes”. Anibe, blogger


Here were aliens, several light years away from their planet, and rather than helping them and even treating them equally, there are segregated and kept in slums. Sound familiar? It is not news that the movie was a play on the 2005 short movie “Alive in Joburg” which dealt with issues of xenophobia and social segregation.


So, it was obvious that District 9 is a movie with many political undertones, and though it is fictional, the context of it is based on reality, and this therefore justifies reactions from the various people that were represented in it. The question is, are these reactions constructive? Should they be constructive? What steps need to be taken in response to these reactions?

South Africa and Nigeria

Xenophobia has been a major problem throughout the history of mankind. We all recall last year when South Africa went through its own xenophobic bloodshed in which according to the Human Rights Watch, Forty-four people were killed and around 20,000 displaced.
While it was not only Nigerians that were targeted in these attacks, the image of Nigerians in the country, based on the conducts of some Nigerians that live in South Africa is not a positive one:


“Unfortunately, it’s the sign of the times. I know, not all Nigerians are bad. However … Isn’t this a way of saying: “Your minority of criminals around the world is holding the majority of good Nigerians at ransom”? Maybe the movie District 9 is saying to Nigerians, like 'Lethal Weapon 2', said to 'white' South Africans: “Guys, sort out your problems”..... Unfortunately, the sad fact is that in South Africa there is a huge Nigerian organized crime presence.”Henri, IQ4News Reader


Earlier this year a close friend of mine visited South Africa, and one of the first questions she asked me when she returned was “Why do South Africans dislike Nigerians so much”. I asked her why she was asking, and she described her conversation with a group of South Africans and how they lamented on the high crime rate of Nigerians in the country. Watching the movie brought back those memories for her:


“When I was in SA I went to this event by Evita Bezuidenhout - who is a popular political commentator- and most of her satirical jokes were about Nigerians, like “if you have your car parked outside hopefully when you get out some Nigerian hasn’t broken into it” etc.....and [according to those people I spoke with] a lot of drug dealing and weapon dealing in SA is traced back to Nigerian involvement. So in the movie when you saw the Nigerian warlord dealing weapons … I noticed the similarity in the portrayal”. SB, IQ4News Reader


So, is it fair to say the movie was merely reflecting the truth?


“We need to be blunt with ourselves in the entity called Nigeria. The bitter truth is that there are so many questions that need to be answered. Without sentiments, I sincerely feel the movie was a true representation of what traverse in our nation. And since we have refused to take the REVOLUTION into our hands, an outsider thought it wise to sarcastically portray us in that manner. Do you blame him for that anyway?!... Just recently, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton visited the country and told us the home truth, instead of our leaders to ponder, ruminate and act on those salient issues she raised, the next scenario was the tirade of the Senate President which he dilated till no end. Our leaders are not just shameful! The list is inexhaustive but I seriously feel Nigerians should take a cue from the incident and amend accordingly.” Omogbolahan, IQ4News Reader

Your Opinion

In light of the reactions to District 9, I felt it was important to reflect your views in this article. I therefore sent out requests for emails of your opinions. The first few were of readers who were angry at the representation, or rather, mis-representation of Nigeria, however, after those first few responses, feelings changed. 40% of respondents were angry at the producers and felt the image of Nigeria had been wrongly tarnished. 60% of respondents felt the movie was good and that the issue of representation was not one to respond to with anger, but that a more constructive response from both Nigerians and the Nigerian government was need. Therefore there was a majority vote that the representation of Nigeria in District 9 should serve as a wake up call to Nigeria.


“Personally I will rate the movie 7 out of 10, its indeed a thoroughly entertaining movie especially from an unknown bunch; I think the response of the Nigerian government regarding the movie … is baseless and uncalled for…Nigerian gang led by a paralyzed leader Obesandjo selling arms in South Africa; or for someone to believe when they eat a part of an alien they’d acquire their abilities only goes to show the extent to which the realm of science fiction can be stretched. I think the government should be more concerned with National issues like the Niger Delta crisis which is affecting the economy or the power [electricity] sector where sixteen billion dollars was expended with no result. Lastly, the Nigerian Universities nationwide strike runs into its 6th week and I bet with studies halted we will all find this movie very entertaining”. Babs, IQ4News Reader.


Yes Nigerians have a right- and quite rightly so- to be angry about anyone tarnishing its image. As a Nigerian in the Diaspora the negative image of Nigeria is one I have to live with day in and day out. So yes, the movie doesn’t help matters in this respect, but neither does the activities of Nigerian internet scammers, the corruption of the Nigerian government (Ibori’s court cases in London for example). The ‘Nigerian Image Project’ or is it ‘The Heart of Africa Project’… whatever it’s called, it is fast becoming another example of the ‘nomenclature syndrome’ of the Nigerian Government that Uche Nworah described in his blog.


Having said that, Nigeria is not a lost case, and the reaction of Nigerians all over the world, standing up to defend their country, is a clear example that the majority of Nigerians are patriotic citizens that would defend their country any day. But we need to do this constructively. Perhaps District 9 is only the beginning of a downpour of movies aggressively bringing into the limelight the wrong doings of a minority of Nigerians, therefore portraying the country in a negative way; are we always going to demand apologies and then sit back and wait for the next movie?

Everyone has a role to play in the re-branding of Nigeria – the government, Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora… even ‘Nollywood’?! Let’s stop waiting for the re-branding programme, and start our own re-branding individually be it through our day to day lives or through our rich cultural industries…Nigerian music videos is fast competing with that of American, perhaps this could be an avenue? Today is the 49th anniversary of Nigeria’s Independence Day, and I think District 9 came just in time to prompt us to think about what that means.


In one sense, I suppose the Nigerian government really does not have a choice but to protest this affront to our collective dignity. Keeping mute about it might suggest that we are fair game for anyone who fancies a go at derogating Nigeria and Nigerians. At a deeper level though, this development in the way Nigerians have been represented to a global audience ought to spark a process of soul-searching amongst us as a nation/society. Art, they say, often imitates life. Did we deserve this onslaught on our dignity and identity? Could the behaviour of Nigerians in South Africa and elsewhere have provided the backdrop to this shameful depiction? And, what can we begin to do both individually and collectively to address these issues? Make no mistake about it, I suspect District 9 is likely to be merely a harbinger of more derogatory representations of Nigeria/Nigerians coming our way in the near future. And, please don’t suggest that the rather farcical ‘re-branding’ gimmick currently doing the rounds in Nigeria is the solution.Ayo, Academic

The Review

I think to base this article completely on the representation of Nigeria and not give credit to the movie would be criminal so here goes:
District 9 was fantastic! The documentary style at the start was creative, but the subtle transition from this to the regular movie style was simply genius. Kudos to Neil Blomkamp not just for tackling those political issues that it portrays, but for doing it in such a way that it conjured the mass reaction it got. District 9 did not just tell us about political issues, it made us feel them and become a part of them. In my books those are the key ingredients of a good movie.


I can’t wait for the sequel.