Clive Myrie Explores His African Heritage in New Series

Tell us about the series? I have always been fascinated by the suggestion that I am from West Africa. I don't know where exactly, but probably from the Gold Coast, which is now Ghana and Nigeria, and we thought it would be a good idea to go to those areas and to explore a little bit of the culture, the music, the arts, and broaden that into a wider look at Africa as a vibrant, rich Continent. So there's my heritage and also my work. I was the BBC News Africa correspondent in the late 1990s based in Johannesburg. I’ve got a lot of friends there, so it was a chance to look at my personal history, reacquaint myself with some old friends, but also to get it out there that this Continent is much more than wars and natural disasters that there is another side that you don't see very much of on British television, or indeed on television anywhere. So, the series is an introduction for people who might not know much about the Continent, and a reflection of who I am as a human being. How did news events in South Africa inspire you wanting to be a journalist? I had a paper round when I was a kid in the 70s in in Bolton, in Lancashire, and I would see all these stories in the in the news about places like Washington and Australia and South Africa, and what was going on there in terms of the fight against apartheid. The struggle for equality there was something that I grew up with, not just in the newspapers, but on television as well. So many years later, to end up being the correspondent based there was amazing, and also to be the correspondent based there after black majority rule. That was a wonderful thing. The struggles and the problems and the privations of the people of South Africa has been something that's fascinated me since I was a kid, and to be there was wonderful. What are some of your highlights from the ten-part series? Meeting Ndileka Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter, was a poignant moment because I covered the funeral of her grandfather. I flew over for that incredible 10 days of mourning. South Africa buried its founding father as a black majority nation. So it was incredible to chat with her and to meet her and to meet her in the company of my old BBC colleague Milton (Nkosi) as well, who's a good friend. That was a fantastic experience. There were lots of incredible highlights. There is a vibrant art scene in Nigeria which was just stunning to behold. I went surfing in Cape Town with a group of people who take street children off the streets, teach them to surf and to become lifeguards. I mean, it's just a wonderful, wonderful thing that they that they do. Durban is home to South Africa’s largest Indian population and I learned how to make Bunny Chow there. It’s essentially a half loaf of bread with the inside scooped out and filled with the most delicious curry, it’s incredible. I went to the most amazing birthday party for a gospel singer and minister in Abeokuta in Nigeria. He threw a huge birthday party with a massive marquee. There were folks from Nollywood invited, actors, models, all kinds of people. And he made his entrance, throwing out notes, money to everyone. It was the most amazing thing. I would never have gone to that kind of thing ever. Another thing I did which I wouldn’t have ever expected was trying out a new craze - car spinning - you’ll see my face but it was fast! I met so many strong, incredible women in the series, I went on a motorcycle ride with all female motorcycle gang in Morocco – that was so much fun, they were just so welcoming and warm and open. I went antiquing in Tangier and in Casablanca, and I stayed in what they think might have been the original White House, Casablanca, which was just amazing. But on top of all of those individual experiences, the trip was about me going to the Gold Coast. It was about me going to Ghana and Nigeria. And I had the most emotional naming ceremony in Ghana, where I was baptised. I was taken back into the fold, as it were, after my ancestors were obviously torn away on slave ships back in the 15th, 16th century. It was quite emotional – I shed a tear. The baptism was very, very powerful. I felt right at home. I felt as if I was back. It was amazing. Before the baptism, I'd actually spent time in the old slave fort, which is where my ancestors may well have been held before they were shipped off. That was hard. It was a very powerful moment, and that was a very personal thing. And of course I got my Ghanaian African name, Papa Kojo Abaka. How did you select all the different aspects of South Africa that you were going to cover in the series? It was a collaborative effort with me and the producers at Alleycats TV, but we would discuss ideas around what might make sense to my personal story, that I was going back to the place that where my roots might have begun and branching out from there to take in all those sides of the Continent that you just don't see on television. It’s been 20 years since you were there as South African correspondent. It must have changed immeasurably in those 20 years. Yes, it has changed. It's settled down as a young democracy. I think there were a lot of teething problems when I was there. I mean, the AIDS epidemic was dreadful. When I was reporting from there, there was a lot of youth unemployment and a lot of crime, and there is still a certain amount of youth unemployment and still a certain amount of crime, but it felt much more manageable now, somehow, after that intervening period, but it's still a place where they're trying to work things out. It's still a place where overturning the legacy of apartheid, which was a horrible way of existing that lasted for 70 odd years, overturning the legacy of that is going to be very, very difficult. You know, a lot of the land is still in the hands of a few white farmers. It's a complicated picture, and it's a place that needs as much help and encouragement as possible. What would you like viewers to take away from the series? I'd like viewers to take away the idea that Africans are multi-dimensional people, just like everybody else. They're not just waifs and strays on some migrant boat. They're not just victims of rapacious capitalism, whether it's digging for oil or minerals or whatever, and being left out of the riches of that. They're not just victims of tyrants or natural disasters, they have wants and feelings and ideas and creativity as much as anyone. And I hope that people understand that when they when they watch the series, and they see that it's a vibrant Continent with so much to offer beyond the usual stuff that's represented in the media. I really hope that viewers enjoy watching my journey back to the place where I may originally have come from and exploring South Africa and Morocco. This is an incredible Continent in all its diversity and richness. stephanie@plankpr.com Follow for more