Have you ever asked any of your parents for money, especially continuously, and they gave you this reply: “Do you think I’m da Rocha?”
Well, I experienced it and growing up, I never knew the meaning of the statement, until I came across a book a friend gave me, when I stumbled on the name “Candido da Rocha”.
He was a rich man who would, from the balcony of his one-storey building, throw down coins to children who would, in a tangle of bodies and flapping hands, struggle for them. So, I remembered vividly why my parents denies being “a da Rocha” anytime I ask for monies I don’t literally need as a child.
Also known as Nigeria’s first millionaire, he was a rich entrepreneur, businessman, landowner and creditor who owned Water House or Casa d’Agua on Kakawa Street, Lagos Island, Lagos. It was named Water House because it was the first and only house in Lagos in those days to have a borehole and in turn sell water to the residents.

Candido da Rocha, a native of Ilesha, present day, Osun State, was born to the family of Joao Esan da Rocha, who was captured as a slave when he was 10 years old on his way to school in Ilesha. Candido was born in the Bahia region of Brazil. His mother was Angelica Josephina da Rocha. His father returned to Lagos, Nigeria in the 1870’s where he built his wealth and passed it to his son, Candido.

Read more: http://www.proudlyoruba.com/the-story-of-candido-joao-da-rocha-1860-1959-one-of-nigerias-first-millionaires-1860-1959/

shinene2020:
Have you ever asked any of your parents for money, especially continuously, and they gave you this reply: “Do you think I’m da Rocha?”
Well, I experienced it and growing up, I never knew the meaning of the statement, until I came across a book a friend gave me, when I stumbled on the name “Candido da Rocha”.
He was a rich man who would, from the balcony of his one-storey building, throw down coins to children who would, in a tangle of bodies and flapping hands, struggle for them. So, I remembered vividly why my parents denies being “a da Rocha” anytime I ask for monies I don’t literally need as a child.
Also known as Nigeria’s first millionaire, he was a rich entrepreneur, businessman, landowner and creditor who owned Water House or Casa d’Agua on Kakawa Street, Lagos Island, Lagos. It was named Water House because it was the first and only house in Lagos in those days to have a borehole and in turn sell water to the residents.

Candido da Rocha, a native of Ilesha, present day, Osun State, was born to the family of Joao Esan da Rocha, who was captured as a slave when he was 10 years old on his way to school in Ilesha. Candido was born in the Bahia region of Brazil. His mother was Angelica Josephina da Rocha. His father returned to Lagos, Nigeria in the 1870’s where he built his wealth and passed it to his son, Candido.

Read more: http://www.proudlyoruba.com/the-story-of-candido-joao-da-rocha-1860-1959-one-of-nigerias-first-millionaires-1860-1959/

Nigeria's first millionaire in
British Pounds. Brazilian-born
Ijesa-Yoruba business icon.

An awesome journey of
the ancestors from Bahia
to Lagos Island!