₦airaland Forum

gabng:
IN NIGERIA, TOUCHES OF BRAZILIAN STYLE
By JAMES BROOKE
Published: March 26, 1987

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IN this century Lagos has become a grimy metropolis of five million people, but pockets of what are known here as Brazilian houses still exist in quirky contrast to later local building styles, including colonial-issue British homes with deep verandas and overhanging eaves and oil-boom skyscrapers, faithful imitations of their Manhattan models.

Nigeria's Brazilian architecture is a legacy of the thousands of freed slaves who returned to West Africa in the 19th century. Trained as carpenters, cabinetmakers, masons and bricklayers in Brazil and borrowing from the baroque styles popular in Brazil through the 18th century, these freedmen stamped their exuberant and individualistic style on doorways, brightly painted facades and chunky concrete columns.

In recent years, the steady march of skyscrapers has spurred local residents to form a fledgling historic preservation movement, a rarity for an African city.

''We are concerned that the Brazilian houses are not only running down but might be destroyed,'' said Ike Ikwueme, curator of the National Museum. An inventory of Lagos historical sites, completed by a state committee last June, found that several Brazilian houses are under serious threat of demolition.

''Nobody cares about them,'' said Alan Vaughan-Richards, a Lagos architect who helped compile the inventory. ''They get rundown, and then people pull them down,''

Indeed, the concept of preserving old buildings has yet to become deeply rooted in this society, where half the population is under the age of 15. With its open sewers, shortage of public parks and disfiguring highway overpasses, Lagos seems to have benefited little from modern urban planning.

In other West African cities the brightly colored panels and delicate floral plaster motifs of the Brazilian artisans have survived in part because of local economic stagnation and in part because of the pride of the owners. The style can be found today in a crescent of West African nations, marking the points where freedmen landed in the 19th century: Freetown in Sierra Leone, Cotonou and Porto Novo in Benin and Badagri, Lagos and Calabar in Nigeria.

''They were determined to come home, and they were forced into high discipline,'' Angelica Yewande Oyediran said. ''They easily outshone the people at home.''

Mrs. Oyediran lives in Water House, one of the few two-story Brazilian buildings still standing in downtown Lagos today. On one wall hangs a dignified portrait of her mustachioed great-grandfather Joao Essan da Rocha.

Mr. da Rocha, a native of Ilesha, Nigeria, was captured by slave traders in the 1850's as he walked to a missionary school, Mrs. Oyediran said. Taken to Brazil, he eventually became a prosperous trader in Salvador. In 1870, he returned to Nigeria, settling in Lagos, and quickly built a small fortune plying the lucrative South Atlantic trade routes.

When Mr. da Rocha - and other prosperous 19th-century Nigerian merchants - wanted to build houses to match their means, they turned to the local community of Brazilian artisans. Freed Brazilian slaves had started returning to Nigeria in the late 1830's. By 1880, out of a population of 37,458, Lagos had 3,221 Brazilians and 111 Europeans.

''If you had any work to do, you called on a Brazilian descendant to make sure it was done right,'' Mrs. Oyediran said.

Water House, which has suffered from remodeling by later generations, still bears many touches of the Brazilian craftsmen: leafy plaster flourishes in the corners of the parlor ceiling and wrought-iron balustrades on the second-floor balcony.

The Brazilian stamp is most evident in the modest, whimsical houses that survive, both in downtown Lagos and across Lagos Lagoon in the old suburb of Ebute Metta, in contrast to indigenous building styles.

''Traditional Yoruba buildings have very plain, flat mud walls that are sometimes whitewashed,'' said Richard E. Ammann, an American living here and a former professor at the University of Nigeria. ''It was the Brazilians who brought in this ornate styling, the rounded doorways and windows, the pointed tops.''

On a recent Sunday morning, Ayo Vaughan-Richards took advantage of the weekly lull in Lagos traffic to take a visitor on a Brazilian architectural tour. Mrs. Vaughan-Richards, who grew up in a Brazilian house, is the descendant of an American slave of Nigerian origin who was freed in Camden, S.C., in 1825.

Starting down Martins Street, the tour stopped in front of the Shitta Mosque. Built in 1894 by Joao Baptista da Costa, the mosque presents an eclectic facade of baroque scalloped scrolls and Ottoman Empire pinnacles topped with stars and crescents.

In 1880, a Brazilian cabinetmaker, Balthazar dos Reis, carved the ornate woodwork of the high altar, throne and pulpit of the Holy Cross Cathedral on Catholic Mission Street. The cathedral's floral motifs were molded by two Brazilian master masons, Lazarus Borges da Silva and Francisco Nobre. One of the finest late Brazilian houses stands on Odunfa Street. Built in 1913 for A. W. U. Thomas, a Lagos auctioneer, the three-story building features pineapple-topped columns and is covered with ornate plasterwork. Today, however, it is a dilapidated tenement.

Indeed, the tour included references to lost preservation battles. Elephant House, a residence that had its namesake molded in plaster over a third-story bay window, has been torn down. And on the site of the city's old Brazilian-style central mosque rise concrete minarets of a modern mosque. ''Everyone pleaded with them to go to a new site, but down it came,'' Mr. Vaughan-Richards said.

Not all Brazilian buildings have suffered this fate. The tour ended at 29 Kakawa Street, the house where Mrs. Vaughan-Richards was born.

''It looks almost as good as when I was growing up,'' she said. With its baroque doorway and ornamented windows, the Vaughan house has been carefully restored and is now used for office space by a Lagos architectural firm.



SAuCE na New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/26/garden/in-nigeria-touches-of-brazilian-style.html

FreeStuffsNG:
The PUNCH reported that the Lagos State Council of Obas and Chiefs had in July urged the Lagos State Government to officially recognise and declare August 20 as Isese Day holiday in the state.
It's the idea of the Alaiyeluwas and Ifa Devotees. Now I understand why it sailed through after all these years of clamouring for Yoruba Renaissance and practicing Isese privately in most Yoruba communities within and outside Nigeria.

Lagos state is a Yoruba state, Isese Day is now all Yoruba states public holiday. Check my signature for free stuffs!

dre11:
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/08/seven-ministers-whose-portfolios-caught-nigerians-by-surprise/

Ibrahimcoomasie:
https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/16/niger-coup-backers-call-for-mass-mobilisation-amid-military-threat-from-regional-bloc

WriterNig:
https://cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/NP2WVNRXFRL7NEDY3K2KP6LNWM.jpg

🇷🇺 Russians got richer last year even as the war in Ukraine raged on, while the US and Europe lost trillions of dollars, UBS reported.

Russia added $600 billion of total wealth, the Swiss bank found in its annual Global Wealth Report, published Tuesday.

The number of Russian millionaires also rose by about 56,000 to 408,000 in 2022, while the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals — people worth over $50 million — jumped by nearly 4,500.

But the US lost more wealth than any other country last year, shedding $5.9 trillion, while North America and Europe combined got $10.9 trillion poorer, UBS reported.

There were also 1 million fewer American millionaires by the end of 2022, although the US still accounted for over 50% of the world's ultra-high-net-worth individuals, the bank said.

Russia's wealth gains came despite its invasion of Ukraine in February, which has led to the West imposing sanctions on the Kremlin that led to its economy shrinking and triggered a slump for Moscow-listed stocks.

UBS acknowledges that "wealth trends in Russia are difficult to determine at this time," but did highlight it as one of a handful of countries that had gotten richer in 2022.

Rising oil prices could be one factor behind the wealth increase, with exports of the commodity a key economic engine for Russia. The cost of a barrel of benchmark Urals crude jumped by about $7 last year, data from Refinitiv indicated.

Mexico, India, and Brazil all also added significant amounts of wealth in 2022, UBS's report suggested, while the US, Japan, China, Canada, and Australia lost the most.

hisexcellency34:
Dele Alake has been a journalist all his life. A former Commissioner for Information in Lagos State when President Bola Tinubu was governor.

What is your take on his appointment as Minister of Solid Minerals and Development?

dre11:
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assigned portfolios to 45 ministers confirmed penultimate Monday by the Senate. The list of portfolios announced by the Special Adviser…

https://dailytrust.com/tinubu-splits-petroleum-ministry-appoints-2-state-ministers/

Sodiq3:
The president has assigned portfolios to his ministers. List below.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/08/breaking-tinubu-appoints-wike-minister-of-fct-umahi-minister-of-works/

naptu2:
Doyin @doyinokupe



https://twitter.com/doyinokupe/status/1692139363885281373

Papparassi:
The Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has revealed that the Gã people of Ghana originated from Ile Ife, the ancestral home of the Yoruba people.

The 47-year-old monarch made this statement on Sunday when King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II of Gã State visited Ile Ife, Osun State.

The Gã people reside on the southeast coast of Ghana and speak the Kwa language. Also, the ancient capital city of the Gã people is the present-day capital of Ghana, Accra.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/entertainment/514570-ga-people-of-ghana-originated-from-ile-ife-ooni-of-ife.html

Throwback:
He has always claimed to be Nigerian but was Born in Togo.

Many of us have always known he is not a Yoruba of Togo but Yoruba of Nigeria whose family moved to Togo before he was born.

He is not from Atakpame where the Togo Yorubas are from.

He is just like the Ghana and Ivory Coast Yorubas whose ancestors migrated there without having any original Yoruba village there.

obembet:
Source: https://www.facebook.com/100064306465077/posts/688658726621003/?mibextid=0MAZ6mq24lFmWSfL

newsblendanews:
https://www.lindaikejisblog.com/2023/8/lagos-socialite-farida-sobowale-of-house-of-phreeda-rescued-after-attempting-to-commit-sucde-on-third-mainland-bridge-video.html

alphabbey1:
Am sure he wasn't aware USDT lost it's peg against real dollar during that Luna crisis... On binance, 1 USDT became 0.98 dollars before crypto gurus do there magic to return it back to 1 USDT = 1 dollar 30 minutes after...... Since then, I save in Dormicilliary and Alipay, can't trust USDT with any large amount....

Ilekokonit:
A fool and his money are soon parted.

A house purchase is the singular most expensive purchase anyone will make in their life time. Tell the intending buyer to slow down to avoid being ripped off.

If there is nothing to hide, then there will be no barriers to releasing the contact details of the real owner of the house.

EXLOVER:
SO I FINALLY ENTER $1k GOD DID

EXLOVER:
I WILL POST MY JOURNEY ON DERIV SOON, AFTER I BLEW SEVERAL ACCOUNTS, I WANTED TO GIVE UP, I MANAGED TO DEPOSIT $24 ENDING OF JUNE, NOW IT'S MORE THAN $500 TODAY, I NOTICED IT'S EASIER THAN CURRENCY, I WILL ADD CAPITAL TO MY HOTFX SOON.

SHOUT TO VEE, FOR THE FIRST TIME I FOLLOWED YOUR TRADE ON CRASH 300, MADE $21 BECAUSE I CLOSE THE TRADE EARLY. THANKS


MY NEXT TARGET NOW IS $1K WITH RISK MANAGEMENT AND IF I KILL GRRED I WILL GET THERE SOON

EcoBrick:
https://punchng.com/lawyer-sues-emir-for-stopping-ilorin-isese-festival/

Curious345:
I attached a link here👉https://gazettengr.com/we-cant-release-tinubus-criminal-cases-immigration-records-till-2026-due-to-unusual-circumstances-fbi-state-department-say. For you to read..

Its all over the news. I didn't say it.. The news did

Antoeni:
https://www.reubenabati.com.ng/news/lastma-officials-vacate-duty-posts-as-15-wounded-in-clash-with-soldiers

Curious345:
Following a subpoena, the USA promised they will release criminal files on tinubu only after 2026..

There is a reason for that.. We have a president under hostage

https://gazettengr.com/we-cant-release-tinubus-criminal-cases-immigration-records-till-2026-due-to-unusual-circumstances-fbi-state-department-say

Curious345:
There is a secret dossier with the fBI. This dossier is rich with criminal indictments against the commander in chief..
The USA will use it to blackmail and teleguide the president.

BannedUser:
I have been preserving my money in USDT and other stablecoins since 2020 when 1USD was still much less than 550 Naira in the black market and I have gained hundreds of thousands of naira just by doing that. The benefits of doing that compared with the alternative of keeping my money in a Naija bank account is tremendous. God punish Banks, CBN and Naija as a whole. I don't owe the government anything because they serve no benefit to me.

BannedUser:
Wow. Your post is really funny.

Do you think Tether is the only one out there? Are PYUSD (PAYPAL's newly lunched stablecoin) and USDC not also stablecoins?

USDT even has a larger marketcap than Bitcoin which speaks volumes to its trustworthiness and security. There are many stablecoins out there and you're here focusing on USDT.

You can even go to to Huobi exchange and swap USDT for PayPal's new stablecoin (PYUSD) if you're scared of holding USDT.

I can guarantee you, blocking access to all crypto exchanges in Nigeria with the aim of reducing activities of currency speculators will only result in an adverse effect on the exchange rate because you are still encouraging forex scarcity.

You cannot stop crypto activities because of it's decentralized nature. Even a very technologically advanced country like China hasn't been able to achieve control.

Islie:
https://dailytrust.com/after-tinubu-cbn-governors-meeting-dollar-crashes-to-n790-at-parallel-market/

2mch:
Ransome-Kuti and a few others are from Abeokuta and not Lagos. The Brazilian sounding names are returnees. The English names are Yoruba Lagosian with Awori roots with old family links to Lagos Island, but they embraced Christianity or Oyinbo names. They all have their own Yoruba family names. Oyinbo used to give names by profession too. So some of those English name allude to profession of ancestors when English people landed in Lagos.

Abagworo:
https://www.thecable.ng/exclusive-tinubu-considering-temporary-subsidy-on-petrol-as-landing-cost-rises/amp

sukkot:
it’s all amazing stuff. Also the first daughter of Captain Davies and Aina called Victoria after queen Victoria her godmother was married to Doctor J K Randle. It’s like these Lagos aristocrats all moved in the same circles. Their third daughter ( of captain and aina ) had a child with Herbert Macaulay.

These people are just marrying and sleeping with each other lol snobs . Keeping the bloodline pure. Which is funny because this aristocracy started from captured and rescued slaves. Just an encounter with queen Victoria and a lineage of Lagos aristocrats is born lol.

Mafious:
Contrary to what you people think the Da-Rochas are Nigerians (Illesha to be precise) like my family the Munis and my Cousins the Carenas. Lopez, Salvadors etc. You would find our various lodges at the Brazilian Quarters on Lagos Island their Patriarch Joao Essan da Rocha was a captured slave who made sure Candido his millionaire son returned to Nigeria after the abolition of slave trade. To dispel rumors Candido did have sons but all went back to Brazil except Kojo who was a lawyer in the league of Awo in Ghana and his family are still revered there cause they are the single family with the most lawyers in Accra.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CDcQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fphotonews.sunmismartcole.com%2F%3Fp%3D61&rct=j&q=da-rocha%20nigeria%20&ei=V21iTcfaB4i48gOV7v3yCA&usg=AFQjCNH_KtyCRQtOKpybDKP8SguMyqYrxQ&cad=rja

Elliotwaveforec:
Arrest all the Abokis exchanging Dollar and block all crypto exchanges doing business in Nigeria.l and make sure anyone who wants to do dollar exchange biz does charge more than N10 above the I and E window.

ijustdey:
•I& E window: N744/$1; parallel market: N950/$1

•Shonubi says Tinubu “very concerned” about naira slide

•Reveals intervention measures ready in matter of days

•Report: Dollar supply remains major challenge in FX market



https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/08/15/fx-arbitrage-widens-to-n206-1-enabling-round-tripping-cbn-vows-crack-down

“Some of the plans and strategies, which I’m not at liberty to share with you, means sooner rather than later, the speculators should be careful because we believe the things we’re doing, when they come to fruition, may result in significant losses to them.

“But my presence here is more about the concerns the president has and he needs to know that we are doing something about it, assurances of which I have given him totally.” ~ Sonubi, Acting-CBN Governor

ogododo:
https://punchng.com/cbn-may-lose-control-of-the-naira/