Cities are like siblings in a large polygamous family. Each one has a unique personality and is headed in a distinct direction. But they all have somewhat shared origins. Sometimes I think postcolonial cities are like the children of the two least-favorite wives, who are constantly being asked, "Ah, why can't you be more like your sister?"
城市,就像是一個大型 一夫多妻家庭中的手足。 每個城市都有獨特的人格, 且朝向不同的方向前進。 但它們都有著共同的源頭。 有時,我認為後殖民城市 就像是兩個最不被喜愛的 妻子所生的孩子, 總是被質問: 「你為什麼不能更像你姐姐一點?」
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
The "why" of cities is largely the same, no matter where they are: an advantageous location that makes trade and administration possible; the potential for scalable opportunities for the skilled and unskilled alike; a popular willingness to be in constant flux and, of course, resilience. The "how" of cities, however, is a whole other story. How are they run? How do they grow? How do they decide who belongs and who doesn't?
城市的「為什麼」大部份是 相同的,不論位在哪裡: 能讓貿易與行政 成為可能的有利位置; 對於有技能與無技能者, 有可擴展之機會的潛力; 大眾有意願處在經常的變遷中, 當然,還有恢復力。 然而,城市的「如何」 又是另一回事了。 它們如何運作? 它們如何成長? 它們如何決定誰屬於、 誰不屬於它們?
Lagos is my home. You can always find the Nigerians by following the noise and the dancing, right?
拉哥斯是我的家鄉。 只要順著噪音以及舞蹈, 你總是能夠找到奈及利亞人,對吧?
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Like any major city, that place is a lot of things, many of which are highly contradictory. Our public transportation doesn't quite work, so we have these privately owned bright yellow buses that regularly cause accidents. Luxury car showrooms line badly maintained and often flooded roads. Street evangelism is only slightly less ubiquitous than street harassment. Sex workers sometimes have two degrees, a bank job and a prominent role in church.
和任何大城市一樣, 拉哥斯有許多特質, 當中有不少都非常矛盾。 我們的大眾運輸系統不太有用, 所以我們有亮黃色的私有巴士, 它們常造成意外事故。 維護很差且常淹水的道路邊 滿是豪華車展示中心。 街頭福音傳道只比街頭騷擾 稍微不那麼普遍一點點。 有的性工作者同時有 兩個學位、一份銀行工作、 以及教堂中的一個要角。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
On any given day, there can be either a party or a burned body in the middle of a street.
在任何一個日子, 街道中央可能會有一個派對, 或是一具被燒死的屍體。
There is so much that is possible in Lagos and so much that isn't, and very often the difference between possibility and impossibility is simply who you are, and if you're lucky enough, who you're connected to. Belonging in Lagos is a fluid concept determined by ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender, but most visibly and often most violently, class.
在拉哥斯,非常多事情 都是有可能的, 也有非常多不是, 而通常,可能與不可能之間的差別, 就只在於你是誰, 如果你夠幸運有人脈,那也會有關。 屬於拉哥斯是一種流動的概念, 決定因子包括人種、性向、性別, 但最能看見且通常也最極端的因子, 是階級。
Before Nigeria became a country, fisherpeople from the inland creeks started to come down the Lagos lagoon and establish villages along the coast. About 60 years later, my grandfather, Oludotun Adekunle Kukoyi, also arrived in Lagos. Like me, he was an alumnus of the University of Ibadan, a young member of the educated elite in the independence era. Over time, he built an illustrious career as a land surveyor, mapping out now-bustling neighborhoods when they were just waist-high wild grass. He died when I was nine. And by that time, my family, like the families of those fisherpeople, knew Lagos as home.
在奈及利亞成為國家之前, 來自內陸小溪的漁民, 開始來到拉哥斯的環礁湖, 沿著海岸建立村莊。 大約六十年後,我的祖父 歐魯多頓阿迪庫諾庫柯伊 也到了拉哥斯。 和我一樣,他也是 伊巴丹大學的校友, 在獨立時代中受教育的年輕菁英。 隨時間,他身為一名土地勘察員, 建立起了著越的事業, 在現在熱鬧的街坊區域還只是 及腰野草叢生的時候就將之規劃好。 他過世時我才九歲。 那時,我的家人就已經 和那些漁民的家人一樣, 把拉哥斯視為家鄉。
Among the Yoruba, we have a saying, "Èkó gb’olè, ó gb’ọ̀lẹ," which can be translated to mean that Lagos will welcome anyone. But that saying is becoming less and less true. Many Lagosians, including the descendants of those fisherpeople who arrived generations before my grandfather, are now being pushed out to make room for an emergent city that has been described as "the new Dubai." You see, Lagos inspires big dreams, even in its leaders, and successive governments have declared aspirations towards a megacity where poverty does not exist. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on the eradication of poverty as you would expect, the strategy of choice focuses on eliminating the poor.
我們約魯巴人有一句諺語: 「Èkó gb’olè, ó gb’ọ̀lẹ,」 可以翻譯為:拉哥斯歡迎任何人。 但那句諺語越來越沒有真實性了。 許多拉哥斯人,包括 比我祖父還要早幾世代 就抵達拉哥斯的那些漁民的後裔, 現在正在被趕出去, 就為了替一個被描述成 「新杜拜」的新興城市製造空間。 你們知道,拉哥斯能鼓舞大夢想, 甚至能鼓舞到它的領導者, 接替的政府宣佈了朝向沒有貧窮之 百萬人口大城市邁進的熱望。 不幸的是,重心並沒有 如你所預期的 被放在杜絕貧窮上, 政府選擇的策略,著重在消滅窮人。
Last October, the Governor announced plans to demolish every single waterfront settlement in Lagos. There are more than 40 of these indigenous communities all over the city, with over 300,000 people living in them. Otodo Gbame, a hundred-year-old fishing village with a population about three-quarters that of Monaco and similar potential for beachfront luxury --
去年十月,總督宣佈了一些計畫, 要將拉哥斯的每一個 濱水居住地給拆除。 整個城市中有超過四十個 像這樣的原住民社區, 有超過三十萬人住在其中。 歐特杜巴美, 一個有百年歷史的漁村, 人口大約是摩納哥的四分之三, 也有類似的海濱奢侈潛力──
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
was one of the first to be targeted.
它被列為首要目標之一。
I first heard of Otodo Gbame after the demolition started. When I visited in November 2016, I met Magdalene Aiyefoju. She is a now-homeless woman whose surname means, "the world is blind." Magdalene's son Basil was one of over 20 people who were shot, drowned or presumed dead in that land grab. Standing outside her shelter, I saw the two white-sand football fields where Basil used to play. Spread all around us were the ruins of schools, churches, a primary health center, shops, thousands of homes. Young children enthusiastically helped to put up shelters, and about 5,000 of the residents, with nowhere else to go, simply stayed put. And then in April, state security personnel came back. This time, they cleared the community out completely, with beatings, bullets and fire. As I speak, there are construction crews preparing Otodo Gbame's beaches for anyone who can afford a multi-million-dollar view. The new development is called "Periwinkle Estate."
我第一次聽到歐特杜巴美, 是在拆除開始之後。 當我在 2016 年 11 月造訪時, 我遇到了瑪德蓮艾伊佛茱, 她現在是個無家可歸的女子, 她的姓氏意味著「世界是盲目的」。 在那次土地霸佔中, 有二十個人被射殺、淹死、 或認定死亡, 而瑪德蓮的兒子巴索是其中之一。 我站在她的庇護所外, 看見兩塊白沙足球場, 巴索以前會在那兒玩。 我們周圍盡是學校、教堂、 基層健康中心、商店、 及數以千計家園的斷垣殘壁。 年輕的孩子熱心地協助搭起庇護所, 大約五千名居民沒有地方可以去, 就只留在原處。 接著,在四月, 國家安全人員回來了。 這次,他們完全把社區給清除, 用的是毒打、子彈、和放火。 我說話的同時,建造人員正在 歐特杜巴美的海灘做準備, 為任何能付擔得起百萬元 景色的人重新打造它。 這新開發稱為「長春花莊園」。
Forced evictions are incredibly violent and, of course, unconstitutional. And yet, they happen so often in so many of our cities, because the first thing we are taught to forget about poor people is that they are people. We believe that a home is a thing a person absolutely has a right to, unless the person is poor and the home is built a certain way in a certain neighborhood. But there is no single definition of the word "home." After all, what is a slum besides an organic response to acute housing deficits and income inequality? And what is a shanty if not a person making a home for themselves against all odds? Slums are an imperfect housing solution, but they are also prime examples of the innovation, adaptability and resilience at the foundation -- and the heart -- of every functional city. You don't need to be the new Dubai when you're already Lagos.
強迫驅逐非常暴力, 當然,也非常違反憲法。 但這種事卻經常在我們 許多的城市中發生, 因為我們被教導,關於窮人, 要忘掉的第一件事, 就是他們也是人。 我們相信,任何人都 有權利擁有一個家, 除非那個人很窮, 且那個家是在特定的街坊 以特定方式建立的。 但對於「家」這個字, 並沒有單一的定義。 畢竟,除了是對嚴重 住房不足及收入不平等的 基本回應之外, 貧民窟還能是什麼? 如果不是人們克服一切困難 來為自己打造的家, 那麼小屋還能是什麼? 貧民窟是不完美的住房解決方案, 但它們也是創新、適應、 及恢復的好例子, 從基礎上來看是如此, 從心來看亦是如此, 對每個功能性城市皆是。 如果你已經是拉哥斯了, 你不需要成為新杜拜。
(Applause)
(掌聲)
We have our own identity, our own rhythm, and as anyone who knows Lagos can tell you, poor Lagosians are very often the source of the city's character. Without its poor, Lagos would not be known for its music or its endless energy or even the fact that you can buy an ice cold drink or a puppy through your car window.
我們有我們自己的身份、 自己的節奏, 任何認識拉哥斯的人都能告訴你, 貧窮的拉哥斯人常常就是 該城市之性格的來源。 沒有窮人,拉哥斯就 不會有它知名的音樂、 或無盡的能量、 或甚至是你能夠透過 車窗就購買到冰飲 或小狗的特色。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
The conditions that cause us to define certain neighborhoods as slums can be effectively improved, but not without recognizing the humanity and the agency of the people living in them. In Lagos, where public goods are rarely publicly available, slum dwellers are often at the forefront of innovating solutions. After being disconnected from the grid for months because the power company couldn't figure out how to collect bills, one settlement designed a system that collectivized remittances and got everyone cheaper rates into the bargain. Another settlement created a reform program that hires local bad boys as security. They know every trick and every hideout, so now troublemakers are more likely to get caught and reported to police and fewer of the youth end up engaging in criminal activity. Yet another settlement recently completed a flood-safe, eco-friendly communal toilet system. Models like these are being adopted across Lagos.
讓我們將某些街坊定義為 貧民窟的那些條件, 可以被有效地改善, 但不該是用這種不承認其居民之人性 及作用的方式。 在拉哥斯,公共財 很少是大眾能取得的, 貧民窟居民通常是在 創新解決方案的最前線。 只因為電力公司無法想出 要如何收電費,造成斷電數月, 一個居住地就設計了一個系統, 將匯款集體化, 並討價還價幫大家 爭取比較優的費率。 另一個居住地創造了一個自新專案, 僱用壞男孩來做保全。 他們知道各種技倆以及躲藏處, 所以製造麻煩者現在 更可能會被抓到並交給警方, 更少年輕人會參與犯罪活動。 還有另一個居住地在近期完成了 一個不怕水災的環保社區廁所系統。 像這類的模型被用在拉哥斯各地。
Informal settlements are incorrectly named as the problem. In fact, the real problems are the factors that create them, like the entrenchment of poverty, social exclusion and state failures. When our governments frame slums as threats in order to justify violent land grabs or forced evictions, they're counting on those of us who live in formal housing to tacitly and ignorantly agree with them. Rather, we must remind them that governments exist to serve not only those who build and live in luxury homes, but also those who clean and guard them. Our --
非正式的居住地被誤認定是問題。 事實上,真正的問題是 創造它們的那些因子, 比如貧窮的防堵、 社會排除、 及國家失靈。 當我們的政府把 貧民窟貼上威脅的標籤, 來正當化其暴力 土地霸佔或強迫驅逐, 他們要靠我們這些 住在正式住房中的人, 能夠沉默地、漠視地認同這些作為。 但我們反而應該要提醒他們, 政府存在的目的不只是服務那些 建立和居住在奢侈家園的人, 也要服務那些清理 和保衛這些家園的人。 我們的──
(Applause)
(掌聲)
our realities may differ, but our rights don't.
我們的現實可能不同, 但我們的權利不該有所不同。
The Lagos state government, like far too many on our continent, pays lip service to ideas of inclusion, while acting as though progress can only be achieved by the erasure, exploitation and even elimination of groups it considers expendable. People living with disabilities who hawk or beg on Lagos streets are rounded up, extorted and detained. Women in low-income neighborhoods are picked up and charged with prostitution, regardless of what they actually do for a living. Gay citizens are scapegoated to distract from real political problems. But people, like cities, are resilient, and no amount of legislation or intimidation or violence can fully eliminate any of us. Prostitutes, women and women who work as prostitutes still haven't gone extinct, despite centuries of active suppression. Queer Africans continue to exist, even though queerness is now criminalized in most parts of the continent. And I'm fairly certain that poor people don't generally tend to just disappear because they've been stripped of everything they have.
拉哥斯的國家政府, 就像我們大陸上太多的國家政府, 包容的理念都說得很好聽, 但行為卻好像是 一定要透過消除、利用、 甚至消滅那些被它認為 可犧牲之族群的方式, 才能產生進展。 在拉哥斯街頭靠著叫賣 或乞討來維生的殘障人士 被圍捕、勒索、 拘留。 低收入街坊的女性會被逮捕, 並被控告賣淫, 不論她們實際上謀生的工作是什麼。 同性戀市民被當作代罪羔羊, 以將焦點從政治問題拉走。 但就像城市一樣, 人們也是有適應力的, 不論有多少立法、恐嚇、或暴力, 都無法將我們任何人完全消滅。 妓女,女性以及以身為妓女的女性, 仍然還沒有滅絕, 即便經過幾世紀的 積極壓迫也沒有滅絕。 酷兒(譯註:同性、雙性、 變性者)非洲人仍然存在, 即使現在在這塊大陸上大部份 地方都把酷兒視為犯罪。 我十分確定一點, 奪去窮人所擁有的一切, 通常並不會讓他們消失。
We are all already here, and that answers the question of whether or not we belong.
我們都已經在這裡, 那就是「我們是否屬於這裡」 這個問題的答案。
When those fisherpeople started to sail down the lagoon in search of new homes, it could not have occurred to them that the city that would rise up around them would one day insist that they do not belong in it. I like to believe that my grandfather, in mapping new frontiers for Lagos, was trying to open it up to make room for other people to be welcomed by the city in the same way that he was. On my way here, my grandma called me to remind me how proud she was, how proud [my grandfather] and my mother would have been. I am their dreams come true. But there is no reason why their dreams -- or mine, for that matter -- are allowed to come true while those of others are turned to nightmares. And lest we forget: the minimum requirement for a dream is a safe place to lay your head.
當那些漁民開始航向環礁湖, 尋找新家, 他們可能都不曾想到過, 這個在他們周邊發展起的城市, 有一天會堅持認定他們不屬於這裡。 我想相信我的祖父, 在為拉哥斯畫出新邊界時, 是試圖要將它開放的, 騰出空間給其他人, 讓他們被這個城市所歡迎, 就像他當初被歡迎一樣。 我來這裡的路上, 我的祖母打電話給我, 提醒我她有多麼為我感到驕傲, 如果我祖父和母親還在世 會多麼為我感到驕傲。 我就是他們的夢想被實現了。 但沒有理由為什麼他們的夢想 ──或我的夢想,就此而言── 會被允許實現, 但其他人的夢想卻變為惡夢。 我們不能忘記: 夢想的最低需求是 是要有一個安全的地方可以安眠。
It is too late now for Basil, but not for Magdalene, not for the hundreds of thousands, the millions still under threat in Lagos or any of our cities. The world does not have to remain blind to the suffering that is created when we deny people's humanity, or even to the incredible potential for growth that exists when we recognize and value all contributions.
對巴索而言已經太遲了, 但對瑪德蓮還沒太遲, 對成千上百、數百萬 在拉哥斯或我們其他任何城市中 受威脅的人,還沒太遲。 世界不用一直是盲目的, 不用一直看不見我們否認 人性時所造成的苦難, 或看不見當我們 認可和珍視所有貢獻時 所產生的驚人成長潛能。
We must hold our governments and ourselves accountable for keeping our shared cities safe for everyone in them, because the only cities worth building -- indeed, the only futures worth dreaming of -- are those that include all of us, no matter who we are or how we make homes for ourselves.
我們必須要讓我們的政府 以及我們自己 負責任, 為城市中的每個人, 保持我們共有之城市的安全, 因為唯一值得建造的城市── 更確切說,唯一值得夢想的未來── 是要包含我們所有人的, 不論我們是什麼人、 不論我們如何為自己建立家園。
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)