In Nigeria’s floating slum, ‘The Herds’ tour spotlights climate change where it's felt the most

MAKOKO, Nigeria (AP) — Several canoes paddle toward Makoko, a vast floating slum built on stilts in the lagoon at one end of Nigeria’s economic hub of Lagos. Riding on the vessels are giant cardboard puppet animals along with their puppeteers dressed in black.

Once on the water, the animals — a gorilla, a leopard, an elephant, a wildebeest, a giraff and a donkey — all come alive. The gorilla hoots, the donkey brays and wags its tail as the leopard bends its neck toward the surface as if to drink but halts just before its face meets the water and then turns to look around.

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Puppeteers move cardboard animals on the street of Lagos Nigeria, Saturday, April 19, 2025, as part of "The Herds," a moving theatre performance that started its journey from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Puppeteers move cardboard animals in canoes at the Makoko Slum in Lagos Nigeria, Saturday, April 19, 2025, as part of "The Herds," a moving theatre performance that started its journey from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Puppeteers move cardboard animals on the street of Lagos Nigeria, Saturday, April 19, 2025, as part of "The Herds," a moving theatre performance that started its journey from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Puppeteers move cardboard animals in canoes at the Makoko Slum in Lagos Nigeria, Saturday, April 19, 2025, as part of "The Herds," a moving theatre performance that started its journey from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

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Puppeteers move cardboard animals on the street of Lagos Nigeria, Saturday, April 19, 2025, as part of "The Herds," a moving theatre performance that started its journey from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Puppeteers move cardboard animals in canoes at the Makoko Slum in Lagos Nigeria, Saturday, April 19, 2025, as part of "The Herds," a moving theatre performance that started its journey from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Puppeteers move cardboard animals on the street of Lagos Nigeria, Saturday, April 19, 2025, as part of "The Herds," a moving theatre performance that started its journey from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Puppeteers move cardboard animals in canoes at the Makoko Slum in Lagos Nigeria, Saturday, April 19, 2025, as part of "The Herds," a moving theatre performance that started its journey from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

It is Saturday, the second day of “ The Herds” theatrical tour stop in Nigeria on a journey 20,000 kilometers (12,427 miles) from Africa's Congo Basin to the Arctic Circle with puppet animals. It's a journey organizers say is meant to bring attention to the climate crisis and “renew our bond with the natural world.”

The tour started last week in Kinshasa, the capital of Congo, and will continue across the world with Dakar, the Senegalese capital, as the next stop.

The story goes that the animals will be forced out of their natural habitats due to global warming and displaced north, stopping in cities along the way and being joined by more animals.

The sprawling slum of Makoko — an old fishing village — was perfect to illustrate that because it has for many years shown resilience in the face of climate change, often finding ways to adapt to extreme weather, said Amir Nizar Zuabi, “The Herds” artistic director.

Dubbed the Venice of Africa, the Makoko slum is a low-lying community vulnerable to rising sea levels and flooding. Lagos itself is no stranger to the impacts of climate change, with roads and houses across the coastal city often engulfed during annual flooding.

“We are on the edge of one of the greatest global crises, and ... I think the global south offers a lot of knowledge and a lot of resilience,” Zuabi said, referring to developing countries in the Southern Hemisphere with lower incomes and higher poverty rates compared to the “global north.”

Spread out beneath the Third Mainland Bridge that connects much of Lagos, Makoko came alive as “The Herds” moved in. People poked their heads out of windows in awe of the exhibition. Children and women stood on the plank porches outside their rickety wood houses, watching as the animals paddled in through the narrow waterways. Some mimicked the animals while others applauded and waved at them.

“It looked so real,” Samuel Shemede, a 22-year-old resident of Makoko, said in awe of the puppets. “I had never seen something like that before in my life. It is not real, but they made it look so real.”

As the tour left Makoko and moved to the Yaba suburb, the city's notorious traffic stood still for the puppets as they towered over people and vehicles. The big animals had been joined by smaller primates like monkeys who hoot noisily, prance around, and even dance.

The tour was punctuated by dance and choreography performances from a local theater group whose performers, clothed in beige sack material and straw hats, intermittently charged toward the puppets as though they were about to attack them.

As they journeyed through the streets, spectators were treated to chants from the Hausa language song "Amfara," which loosely translates to “We have started.”

At a time when African nations are losing up to 5% of their gross domestic product every year as they bear a heavier burden than the rest of the world from climate change, “The Herds” organizers said it is important to break down climate change and its impacts in a way that many people can relate to.

“A lot of climate debate is about science … and scientific words don’t mean anything for most people,” Zuabi, the artistic director, said. “I wanted to create a piece of art that talks about nature, beauty and how animals are wild and majestic."

The animals invading cities is a metaphor for abnormal things now becoming normal as the world deals with climate change, he said. “And hopefully this becomes a way to talk about what we are going to lose if we continue burning fossil fuels.”

The New York Rangers have hired Mike Sullivan as coach, days after he and the Pittsburgh Penguins agreed to part ways.

General manager Chris Drury announced the move Friday, bringing in the organization's top candidate who was out of work for less than a full business week.

“Mike Sullivan has established himself as one of the premier head coaches in the NHL,” Drury said. “Mike brings a championship-level presence behind the bench. ... As we began this process and Mike became an available option for us to speak with, it was immediately clear that he was the best coach to lead our team.”

Sullivan replaces Peter Laviolette, who was fired after the Rangers missed the playoffs following a trip to the Eastern Conference final last year. Sullivan, who coached Pittsburgh to the Stanley Cup back to back in 2016 and ’17, is tasked with trying to turn the Rangers back into an immediate contender.

Drury made the move to get Sullivan not long after receiving a multiyear contract extension of his own.

“Mike’s track record and success in the NHL and internationally speaks for itself, and I look forward to seeing him behind the Rangers bench," owner James Dolan said. "I would like to welcome Mike back to the Rangers organization.”

Sullivan, 57, spent four seasons as a Rangers assistant under then-coach and still close friend and confidant John Tortorella from 2009-13. He coached Drury during that time, and the two have worked together professionally through USA Hockey, most recently at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, and are part of the U.S. contingent for the 2026 Milan Olympics.

Tortorella — who was fired as coach of the Philadelphia Flyers in late March — could be a candidate to join Sullivan on his staff, as he did at the 4 Nations, but no assistant hires were confirmed Friday and the organization is expected to discuss those openings in the coming days.

Sullivan had been with the Penguins since getting hired midseason in December 2015 when Mike Johnston was fired months into his lackluster tenure. This is his third head-coaching job in the NHL after a short stint with the Boston Bruins in 2003-04 and '05-06 sandwiched around the lockout that wiped out an entire season.

New York getting Sullivan leaves seven teams around the league with vacancies: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Anaheim, Seattle and Vancouver. Multiple teams that initially reached out to Sullivan will now have to pivot to other experienced options, including Rick Tocchet, Joel Quenneville and Laviolette, as well as a couple of college coaches with recent national championships: Denver's David Carle and Western Michigan's Pat Ferschweiler.

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