Why I Was Deported From China?

Money in land out jungle. Yeah, that's a good one. That's a good one. It really feels so good to be welcomed by the President of the Republic of Ghana, right here in the country where it all began. My goodness. How many years now? Bro, six years plus. And the least I expected was to get a text from you saying, I'm in Beijing right now. You were supposed to be deported. How did you get back? Oh, wow. Seven years ago, I left China not because I hated it, neither because I was deported. But because I felt like African stories within China were misrepresented. So I decided to be the change that I wanted to see. Hence the reason why I left China, came to Africa to travel each and every African country by showcasing the beauty of this continent and also celebrating African excellence. Amazing. This is beautiful, man. Welcome to your trip, baby. I just want to use my channel to rip around Africa. I just want to use my channel to tell the world the real story of Africa. I just want to use my channel to educate people about the motherland. It is really shocking and disheartening to hear that rumours were spread within the African communities that Rwanda was deported from China by the Chinese government. You know, a couple of people know my relationship with you. So anytime I see people that know that I know you and your name comes up, they always say, oh, you've been deported and you can't come back to China. I'm like... But I don't blame you guys because I was more like the voice for Africans living in China. And some of the things that were more sensitive, some of the things that people were scared to talk about, that is what Wodemaya would pull up a camera and talk about it. More Africans are moving to China and more Chinese people are moving to Africa. And they are living comfortably. They are living peacefully and comfortably in our motherland. But the situation is different here in China. I just don't get it. Because the hate is so real. The hate is so real. Because you know Wodemaya was very controversial. He was doing controversial stuff about China. He was hitting hard on China about Ghana's presence or Africans' presence in China and how people were treated in China. And he was one of the people who was speaking out for everyone, including myself, in China. I remember this one time I invited you over to my house. You came and then you needed to shoot some videos. And I think I was busy at the time. I wasn't present when you actually shot the videos. But the event you shot the video at, I organized it. Okay. I think that was when Wakanda came out. I put together a show and had all the black people, the excitement around it. Got everybody involved. We watched the video together. And I had to leave and you were shooting interviews and stuff like that. The next couple of days, we had an African Student Union, which I happened to be an executive in. And they knew I had officially invited you to be a part of the program. So I was called by the disciplinary community, headed by a good friend of mine called John Krumah. I was like, bro, man, you need to talk to your friend Wodemaya. He came, interviewed the Africans and the editing he did is just... It's so wrong. They called me on this issue several times and I was just like... I think the video was about how well do you know about Africa. And they didn't know. They didn't know nothing. They didn't know. It's not my fault. I think they stretched that issue for so long. And you were very, very, very stubborn. I called you to pull the video down. You said, bro, I'm never going to do it. I'm not going to pull that video down. I was so mad because the pressure wasn't even that deep. I'm so sorry. Man. I am so sorry. That's the thing. I always see all the troubles you cause on WeChat until it got to me. There was some time I saw your videos and you were criticizing China. I was like a bit heartbroken. But later I said, okay, I understand. Because you as a foreigner coming to China, you have the right to have different feelings. Exactly. I was just being surreal. But it was not anything hate or anything. It was just like... No, but, you know, the love for China is still there, man. I know, I know. That's why I came back. I'm so proud of Odemair because when he left, he was a little over 100,000 subscribers. And now he has millions of subscribers. People mention his name all over the world. Being a world icon. Pushing the African to the world. Now he has been awarded the diplomatic passport in Ghana. So I'm very, very proud of Odemair and his journey. So you've been watching the videos for some time now? Yes. I've been since you were 100,000. Is that CGI? Yeah. 100,000? I've even gone back to all your videos before. So you're based in China? Yeah, before. The growth. I remember the first interview I did with you in Juneau. Crazy. I still have that footage somewhere stored. And I think from there till now, the growth has been very, very massive. And I'm really, really proud of you. And you're doing amazing things. And now you're a diplomat, bro. That's not something to play with. I don't know. Sometimes you need to have an out-of-body experience to see how your journey started and where you've gotten to now. And give yourself some props, man. The flowers, bro. Thank you. Thank you, bro. Congratulations on your diplomatic passport. Thank you. Oh, wow. I know, right? Yeah. And we are here. 1.8 million. You're so famous. Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm the Zonda woman. You know, I'm making all the Zonda videos. Oh, wow. You live in Ghana? Yes. Oh, good to see you. Good to see you. Nice to meet you. You are my favorite. I watch so many of your videos. All right. I'll see you in Ghana. You won't believe that I once celebrated 2,000 subscribers with overall views of 700,000 views of being on the platform for three good years. In those days, I used to celebrate every little win and I still do to today. And that is why I am so happy to see that this channel is about to hit 2 million subscribers. I mean, we're just 10,000 away from reaching that milestone. Thank you so much for being part of this awesome family. If you are new to the channel, please subscribe and be part of this awesome family. I have an amazing story to share with you all and I'll be so happy if you subscribe. Please, have you liked the video? Like it now. You are the best. The beginning of Wadamaya, I don't think anybody would have imagined how big he would become today. Funny thing and something most people don't know is that he started as a comedian. He was just shooting very funny skits. Those funny... Listen, those funny skits were not funny. Because why would people laugh at me instead of laughing at my funny skits? I used to be a stand-up comedian. Are you guys aware? I've been through a lot, man. To the extent that I'll be on stage cracking jokes and people are like... Back then, there was nothing but backlash for Wadamaya's videos. And I think at the time, nobody saw the vision and the journey he was on. It was just him doing his thing and what I remember was how consistent he was. And he did not care about what people say or what his image came across like to other people. He was just very consistent with what he was doing. I just feel like everybody was going on a straight path. That you have to go to school, graduate and then come out as an engineer or go look for a job, right? But I just wanted to go offbeat. And my offbeat led to more curiosity and that curiosity found me where I am right now. Everyone is here. The Minister of Foreign Affairs including the Minister of Trade and Investment. They are all here to welcome the President to the event. Fast forward to today, I think that process in his journey moulded him into the brand Wadamaya that he is now. And it's just an incredible journey to have witnessed from when he started to what he has become today. If you are a young person watching me right now, I am here to tell you that never give up. Because if the Wadamaya of 10 years ago gave up, I wouldn't be coming back to China. And listen, I did not come back to China after 10 years all alone. I returned to China with a diplomatic passport on an official visit with the President of the Republic of Ghana to meet the President of the Republic of China. I love your outfit. Thank you. I love the fact that you have been intentional with what you wear when you are out of Ghana. Yes. You are representing the continent. Yes, and also boosting the garment industry in my country. Your speech at the UN General Assembly was brilliant. In this era of global uncertainty, Africa must exercise sovereignty over its natural resources to raise the necessary funds to ensure the well-being of its citizens. The days of parceling out vast concession areas to foreign interest exploitation must come to an end. We will continue to welcome foreign investment, but we must negotiate better for a bigger share of the natural resources that belong to us. And I meant every word in there. I talked about reparations. I talked about the global system and how it is changing and how it has been unjust to Africans. And in any new global order that succeeds it, there must be justice and equity for Africa. Aside from that, the current world order is rigged against Africa. And so if you look at the colonial patterns of trade that were established by our colonial masters, they are the same patterns of trade. Railways lead to only where there are resources. And they lead from there to the ports in order to extract those resources and export them to other destinations. We continue to live as colonial slaves. Let me call it new colonial slaves because we have a flag and we have independence. But still the system is rigged such that we have to export materials raw to our former colonial masters. They use those resources to produce manufactured and finished goods and then determine the prices of those goods and export them back to us. But when we export the raw materials, we don't determine the price. We don't determine the price of cocoa. We don't determine the price of gold. Cocoa doesn't grow in Europe and yet Europe determines how much cocoa should be purchased for. And so these are all the kinds of things that we need to look at. Does it mean that we are not fully independent like what you just said? Yeah, Nkrumah said it. After we gained independence, he said we're moving from the era of colonialism to the era of new colonialism. It would take time to reform the system. For instance, we've passed the African continental free trade area. But even though we can export duty-free, tariff-free into each other's markets, where are the railways to move those goods? Where are the ports to move those goods? Where are the roads to move those goods? If you have to move goods from Ghana to another African country, you probably must have to transship it through Europe or some other destination before it gets there. So until we're able to establish the infrastructure to be able to exchange people and goods between ourselves, we cannot fully utilize the potential that the African continental free trade area gives us. And that is part of the new colonialism that I talk about. I'm happy to know that His Excellency knows the problem of this beautiful continent. So my question is, what is the solution to the problems that we've identified? And one more time, we have African Union summits almost every year. The question is, what do you guys discuss whenever you meet? Meet Ghana's biggest export to China. So when it comes to Chinese social media, I mean, TikTok, that you all know in China, they call it Douyin. You got how many followers? 10 million followers. 10 million? 10 million, yeah. They don't even know you in Ghana, bro? Yeah, nobody knows. Some people know me to be black husband. Black husband? Some people say I'm a black Chinese. I think he will be the best person when it comes to investment between or trade between Africa and China. Yes, of course. You should be doing that. That's why I'll be doing that. Even though I once schooled in Beijing Language and Culture University, but the city that made me who I am is Xi'an. And I cannot come to China without visiting the city where it all began. But before we do that, let's pass through a young man who owns a barbering salon out here in Beijing that broadcasts my videos to his customers anytime he opens the shop. This is Jason. I quite remember I gave you a call to talk to you when I came here first, when I just came back last year. And when I got in here for the first time, I noticed something like you were playing your videos back to back. And I was like, oh, damn. And he was telling me about you. Bro, do you know this guy? He's the biggest YouTuber in Africa, man. I'm inspired by what he's doing. And I listened for quite some time before I told him, bro, that's my guy. That's my friend. He was like, no way. That's when I had to call you. And then you spoke to him that time. And I felt like he has very genuine support for your project. And he's very inspired by what you do. And also him starting from where he started as a barber and him opening his own shop here. And he cuts all the diplomas, the ambassadors and the NBA players that come here. Wow. Yeah, he's the go-to guy. We're trying. You're doing amazing, man. And him also being an African and doing this. Where are you from? I'm actually from Sierra, Chad. Oh, Chad? Yeah. Wow. It's quite impressive to see myself on the screens in Beijing. So which means I was not deported. Even if I was deported, there are people who are still watching me. Wow. Why do you show my videos in your shop? I mean, we appreciate you. And also what you are doing for Africa is big. You understand? It's big. And you used to live in China. Yeah. So from back then to where you are today, it's inspiring. It's really inspiring. And also we have a lot of people who come from everywhere. So we also want them to learn Africa through your channels, through your videos. So then they can know that now, Africa is not what they think. And yeah, that's the reason. And the craziest thing is he plays your video back to back. Back to back. And I can see it myself. That's the only video you come here to watch. He doesn't play music videos like you find in other bamboo shops. I think that's what is interesting. If you are coming to Beijing, I'm just going to put his numbers on the screen. Make sure you reach out to me. Make sure you bob your hair here. Thank you. I only trust my barber. Next time. That was a joke, man. Next time. That was a joke, man. No, thank you. Thank you. I appreciate you, man. No, thank you, bro. Thank you. And you passing too. It means a lot. It really means a lot. And I don't know where next I'm going to see you. But inshallah, one day. You know what? You're going to see me on the screen. But this time, yourself too. That's a good one. I'm a bit emotional right now. Because I'm finally going back to my roots. I'm going to where it all started. So we are currently at the train station heading to Shen Yun. It's going to take us roughly three hours for us to get there. But you know what? The station that we are arriving is what makes this so special. Shen Yun, Beijing. A lot of memories in that particular train station. I just can't wait to touch down, kiss the ground and say the proud son of the soil is back in town. The Chinese transportation system is definitely one of the best in the world. One of the fastest trains that you could ever find in this world is actually right here in China. I love the fact that every corner of this country has connectivity. If you don't want to fly, you can drive. If you don't want to drive, you can just literally jump on a slow speed train in case you don't have enough money. Also, there's a slow speed train. And back in the days in China, that was my favorite form of transportation. But listen, it feels good to be on the train one more time. But I just have to grab some coffee and enjoy myself. This is China's high speed train. Literally travels 250 to 300 kilometers per hour. So yeah, we'll be in our destination very soon. Anyway, Ni Hao. Nice to meet you. Meet Felix, popularly called Feltor. One of the biggest YouTube creators out here in China. I feel like he's following the footsteps of Wadamaya. I mean, if I watch his videos, I always see myself in there. And I'm super proud of him because this is a guy that I personally brought to China. And he has never left my sight till today. I met Wadamaya. He was literally the person who picked me up from the airport in Beijing. Beijing airport. And it was the last day of 2014. 31st December. So me and him, we took the train from Beijing. I think we slept at night and then we took the train the next morning. It was like midnight or maybe early morning. Took the train from Beijing. Just like this. Beijing to Shen Yun, you know. It was a fast train. And then we go to Shen Yun. And then the whole time we were in Shen Yun, we were together most of the time. So I started editing videos in 2019 or 2018. I started editing videos. Wadamaya literally helped me to... He came to my apartment. I think he hit 100K by then. He literally helped me. I think I was doing my defense. And then I was like, I need to record a video, a screen recording for my defense. And then go do my thesis presentation. It was like aeronautical engineering thesis presentation. Then he shared a video app to me. First video app. I think it was Wondershare Filmora. Then I used it a bit. And like in maybe six months time, another guy showed me Premiere Pro. And I started editing with it. So I edited with that until 2021. And then I started filming my own videos for YouTube. I'm home. Home sweet home. Can't wait to explore the city tomorrow morning. As for now, I need to go find a place and sleep. I don't know why, but I'm so excited to be in this city, man. This is where we're going. Hankou Hanten Dashi. That's the university I attended. Now this is home. We just arrived at Shen Yun Hankou Hanten Dashi. Finally, bro. This is where it all started, man. I'm so excited, bro. Like super hyped to be back. Super hyped. Wow. Stretch was an entire stretch that leads to our school. You know, so all this that I'm seeing here didn't exist when I was here. So it feels good to see that development changes are happening in my city almost every day, man. How is this possible? 20 yuan, it's okay. Is it 20 yuan or do you want to buy 20 yuan for me? One is 20 yuan. It's okay, it's okay, it's okay. Chicken, beef and eggs together is 20 yuan. Which one is 10 yuan? 10 yuan for eggs, no meat. Oh, no meat. You know, like before you can literally have all the three for 10 yuan. But now he's saying that like all the three goes for 20 yuan. But it's okay. I left seven years ago. So don't worry. Even if it's 30, I'll still buy it. Is it the same guy? No. Guys, I didn't expect this. This guy's been selling fried rice here for how many years? More than 10 years, man. Do you know me? I don't know. You don't know? He's our friend. He's new here. You two, I know you. He remembers us. Can you believe it? That's like after eight years of coming back. He used to sell his fried rice there. And trust me, we used to literally eat this every single day. Every day. Young. How are you? It's been eight years. How are you? The taste never changed, man. As soon as I tasted the food, it took me back to the first time I ate this meal, man. How do you feel? Like I told you, I feel like I'm back home, man. I literally grew up here. Okay. You know, I came here when I was 18 years and literally this was not here. It was just a tiny little lane that you just walk by from here. This is like Gigia. You go for shopping from here and then you hold your shopping bags. Your shopping bags, bro. Good morning. I don't think I even slept because I'm too excited. Come along with me. It's about to go down. Can't wait to see this corner again, bro. There's this bank here. It's called China Merchant Bank. And all you pay is your dad to send you just 100 yuan. So at that time, I think even when they give you 200 cities in Ghana, you can get more money than the Chinese currency. So there was this bank right here. Oh, it's no longer there. It shut down. So there was a bank right just right opposite of me. So you just go withdraw the money and then go to Gigia and do the shopping. Then you carry your shopping like this from here. This building you see in front of me was the bank, but it's no longer the bank. When I came here, this entire building that you see didn't exist. When I arrived here for the first time, it was just like right here. You see the bank and you see my school behind this building. But now, look at it. Oh boy, China! Oh boy, Niger! Bro, that's how I filmed my first ever video. Right from my accommodation. And then we filmed over here. And then we continued, bro. I don't even know what we're doing, man. Literally. Just having fun, man. And the fun turned to what you're seeing right now. This was more like our basketball court where we played basketball. Filmed most of my videos over there. And the majority of the international students were literally living here. This was the friendship villa. I mean, one of my favorite pictures on the internet was actually taken here. I had a photo right here, man. I think I was with one Malawian or Zambian girl. It was snowing tight. And I have all those photos, so I'm definitely going to check it out. Just right here, man. Yeah. Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. So, I actually schooled here. Okay. Yeah. So, I just came back after eight years to come check it out. What are you studying here? Yeah? What are you studying? Aerospace. Oh, okay. Aeronautics engineering. Are you guys a lot now? Yeah, we are many. This place was the exact same place that I filmed my first official video with Tony Megabush. Tony Megabush. And sorry, I said, Tony Megabush! Shout out to Tony Megabush, man. So, I just got a bite. Man. I don't know. I feel like shedding tears, bro. And it's also my first video that actually went viral. But it went viral after two years. After two years, bro. I filmed that video right here. And I think it went viral because we changed the title. Those days when you used to do videos, you put your name on it. Ghana baby featuring Tony Megabush. Not knowing that nobody knew who we were. Hence how I started learning the tricks of how to grow a YouTube channel. And then I changed the title of that video to Black people speak Chinese. And out of nowhere, that video started going viral, bro. Right here, man. What is that? Tony Megabush. She can't speak English. She can't speak English? Oh my God. Just relax. Don't do this. I'm telling you. That's why I told you to learn Chinese. Oh, boy. Hey, man. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Hello. How are you? I'm good. I just came here with my friend to buy some stuff. And then I saw you. Oh, hello. May I ask you... Hey, man. Hello. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Hello. How are you? I just came here to buy some stuff. And then I saw you. What's up, man? How are you? What's up, man? How are you? I don't think I can answer that question because I feel a little bit emotional right now. And if I keep talking, I might just shed tears. What's up, man? Tony Megabush. How are you, man? I'm good, man. In a while, man. In a while. What are you doing over here, man? Hey, man. I'm back. Just do it. Don't care what people will tell you because, listen... When I used to make videos, anytime I go to class, I was more like the laughing stock. Like, literally everybody would be laughing just because of a video that I made. This is the reason why Tony stopped making videos with me. Because we go to class and people would start laughing at him. And he'd be like, you know what? I can't do this again. But I took it upon myself that I started this and I will finish it. Hence, the reason why I never gave up. So, let your negative remarks be your source of inspiration or source of motivation to keep you going. Know that, like, if you are doing the right thing, people are always going to talk. But know why you started and keep going for it, brah. I used to be a striker, man. Wearing my AC Milan Jesse right on this pitch. So, maybe during inter-countries, I play for Ghana. Not inter-schools, man. Inter-schools sometimes, but I'll be on the bench. But inter-countries, I represent Ghana, brah. This is our dining hall, man. Where to get your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And it's so affordable, by the way. All you need to do is... I'm looking for a particular meal where you select. Like, I want this. And the only Chinese word you know is jigger, right? So, you just kind of say jigger, jigger, jigger, jigger. It's like this, this, this, this. That's it. This place was all over my videos, man. And one of the coolest things that you'll ever see. During winter, the entire lake actually freezes. So, we skate on this water. This is the most iconic building on campus. Your matriculation actually happens in here. This used to be our library. And in 2017, I walked out of this building and said goodbye to this beautiful university. And it feels so good to be back here again after eight years. It brings back a lot of memories, man.