This Photo of the Week is a rephotography of Shitta Bey Mosque, at least a hundred years apart. Photo one circa 1900 – 20, photographer unknown. photo two – April 2024, by Eyes of a Lagos Boy
The famous structure is located on Martins Street, Lagos Island. Its construction started in 1891. Shitta-Bey Mosque was financed by Mohammed Shitta Bey, a Lagos aristocrat, businessman and philanthropist, son of Sierra Leone-born parents of Yoruba descent. Brazilian architect João Baptista da Costa oversaw the beginning of construction which was designed in Afro-Brazilian architectural style.
The mosque was completed in 1892 and opened on July 4, 1894 at a ceremony presided over by then Governor of Lagos, Sir Gilbert Carter. Others in attendance included Oba Oyekan I, Edward Wilmot Blyden, Abdullah Quilliam (who represented Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire) and prominent Lagosian Christians such as James Pinson Labulo Davies, John Otunba Payne and Richard Beale Blaize as well as foreign representatives. Quilliam brought a letter accredited to the Sultan of Turkey asking Lagos Muslims to embrace Western education.
Archivist, Historian and Senior Curator with the Nigeria-Brazilian Public History Project, Oludamola Adebowale of ÀṢÍRÍ Magazine, explores further “The entire cost of building the Mosque was valued then at 3000 Pounds. Sanusi Aka completed the project in 1892. (132 years ago).” Adebowale added, ”The architectural facade of the building is an amazing work created by Afro-Brazilian returnee craftsmen. Somewhere on the building lies the marking of the architect and that of Mohammed Shitta Bey.”
It was at the launch that Mohammed Shitta was honored with the “Bey” title, the Ottoman Order of Medjidie 3rd class (the highest class for a civilian) by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Thereafter, Mohammed Shitta became known by the compounded name Shitta-Bey. Shitta Bey Mosque is considered one of the most important historical legacies of Nigeria. It was designated as National monument by Nigerian Commission for Museums and Monuments in 2013.
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