A post to spark a discussion. EDIT: Hopefully the link to the YouTube video works now.
Dan Grec, who is one of the more active overlanders on the global circuit today, recently uploaded a YouTube video detailing his travels through Nigeria. He is currently 1/3 of the way through a trip which will take him to nearly every country in Africa. Dan has years of overland experience, and is the founder of WikiOverland.
Nigeria has a reputation for police corruption and roadside bribery, so he filmed his interactions with police and the military at road blocks via a hidden camera mounted in the dash of his (frankly, awesome) Jeep JK. He then shared it with the world:
As someone who is currently scheming my own trans-national Africa journey, I watched this video eagerly, and with a fair amount of fascination.
I think Dan’s engagement strategy is spot on (if a bit awkward to watch over and over during the compressed time frame), and it serves him well during the dozen or so stops he encountered:
- *shakes hands*
- “Hi! How are you? I’m a tourist. I am traveling from x to y. I love your country, it’s beautiful. Everyone is so nice!” (Read as - “Won’t you be nice to me, too?”)
- *hands over copies of important documents, rather than originals*
Some commenters have complained about his “patronizing” tone, but I don’t hear that. I hear him speaking clearly and loudly, so there is no confusion for either party. If I had one suggestion, it would be to remove his sunglasses more often - a universal gesture of respect. It’s a pretty riveting 12 minutes.
However.
On a second viewing, I began to feel a little uneasy about the whole thing. I think hidden cameras are excellent as a tool for self-documentation, and evidence gathering in the case of an emergency or accident. But -
- Should we use hidden cameras to publish video of people on public platforms - even people in positions of authority who are preparing to bribe you - without their knowledge or consent?
- Nigerian security forces are dealing with more problems right now than combing YouTube for white people with hidden cameras in their Jeeps. But, does publishing this footage make future travel for overlanders in these areas more difficult? Will there be more bribes, or thorough vehicle searches as a result of this kind of YouTubery?
- Is this legal in Nigeria? If not, how does flaunting the law of a country in which you are guest sit? Even when its own police force might be violating those laws themselves by soliciting bribes?
- Am I thinking about this too hard? Is “content” the new God and I should just shut up?
As an interesting aside, my interactions with Dan online have been nothing been positive and very responsive. His website is super useful - especially for folks who have travel plans on this complex and often difficult continent.
But, he has received the ban hammer from several of the Africa overland Facebook groups I subscribe to, and nobody will say why, explicitly. One group won’t even allow its members to share a link to his blog, even in the comments to other people’s posts - your post will be deleted immediately.
I’m not sure if that’s related to this issue or not. So - what do you think? Is hidden camera footage fair game? Or should overlanders be more circumspect in what they make public?