THE POWER OF PLACE


The Amazigh village of Aroumd in Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains


AFRICA


AFRICA, BEYOND THE HEADLINES ADE ADEPITAN


“ To see someone like me, with a disability, in a place synonymous with flak jackets and tanks: it’s not what the world expects”


HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA FOR YOUR TV SERIES, AFRICA WITH ADE ADEPITAN? It’s something I’d wanted to do for decades. As a child watching the news in the UK, all the images I ever saw of the African continent were of war, corruption or poverty. I wanted to change that. So, for the four-part BBC Two series, I travelled through what, as we aimed to show, is such a fun, exciting, diverse continent — not one homogenous place. It was part travel, part current affairs. I also wanted to do a homecoming story of sorts, as I moved from Nigeria to London when I was three years old.


WHAT MADE THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOU? When we travelled from Cape Verde to Senegal, we followed the story of the slave trade, seeing the places where slaves were kept in unfathomable conditions. Some of the most sought-aſter slaves came from the Uraba tribe in Nigeria, where I was born. It was a shocking realisation for me.


WHERE CHALLENGED YOUR PERCEPTIONS THE MOST? Mogadishu, Somalia. To go to a place that’s so notorious for death and destruction was significant. To see someone like me, with a disability, in a place synonymous with flak jackets and tanks: it’s not what the world expects. We had security with us around the clock, undercover guards and such a short time in which to get the stories of these incredible characters. There were women playing basketball who leave


home for the court without saying anything to their families. Once they were behind closed doors, off came the burkas and on went the tracksuits. They knew that if they were caught, they risked being stoned to death, but they wanted to change the world for other women. As an athlete, I’ve never risked death to play ball.


Adedoyin Olayiwola ‘Ade’ Adepitan MBE is a TV presenter and wheelchair basketball player. Africa with Ade Adepitan was broadcast on BBC Two last year. adeadepitan.com


74 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel


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