Lokoja, the present day capital of Kogi state, in the North Central part of Nigeria, was at a time the capital of the country. Indeed, it was the first capital before it moved to Calabar, Lagos and now Abuja respectively. The name, Nigeria was thought of and adopted in the town by Flora Shaw, a British journalist, who later married Fredrick Lugard, the first governor general following the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorates.
Lugard governed the country from Lokoja and, therefore, left some indelible marks on the town. Some of the structures put in place before and immediately after the amalgamation, with distinctive architectural designs till today still add to the aesthetic value of the ancient town.
These structures, some of which are gradually becoming eyesore dot the landscape of the town and are believed to be veritable tourist attractions, if properly managed by the government. The structures include the Lugard rest place on Mount Patti, Lugard’s administrative block, colonial masters’ offices, the European cemetery among others.
While the administrative building used by Lugard as the governor-general had been renovated and remodeled and presently serving as the office of the Chief of Staff (COS) to the Kogi state governor, others are still maintaining their colonial structure as they were when they were constructed around 1900.
The structures, some of which are located on the popular Lugard road, were constructed with wood and many of the woods used for the construction over 100 years ago are still standing. Government offices like the Kogi State Tourism Board, the National Museum and Monument Commission, the Kogi State Judiciary are using some of the buildings as their offices.
Upon the creation of Kogi state in 1991, the state government allocated the structure on No 7, Lugard road to the state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) as its secretariat. The wood building has since been serving as the canteen and the bar for the union.
Also, a trip to the top of Mount Patti will reveal a small building that served as Lugard’s rest place. It is from this building that historians believe Flora Shaw gazed at the river Niger before coining the name Niger Area which later became Nigeria. Many believe that such monuments should be developed to a world tourist attraction without necessarily destroying or tampering with the design or the construction.
Speaking on the state of some of the buildings, the chairman, Kogi State council of NUJ, Adeiza Momojimoh, said it was amazing to see a wooden structure built over 100 years ago still standing. According to him, that goes to confirm that artisans in the olden days did better works than those of the present generation. He, however, noted that strong as some of the buildings were, there was still the need for renovation, while the architectural designed be maintained.
The Kogi NUJ boss said, “The state government was magnanimous to allocate this place to us to serve as the secretariat of the council. We inherited only this colonial structure here at that moment. Because of the solid work that was done at that time, we are happy that the structure has served us up to this moment, given the number of years that the structure has existed, it is only natural that some level of renovation need to be carried out.
“It is purely a plank job and for these planks to have survived over a hundred years is amazing. These days, we have plank works that cannot last for two years, this one has lasted over 100 years. Even though it has lasted this long it cannot continue forever, some amendment works need to be done on it, some other ones within the state capital have been renovated, if we leave it like that we are only asking it to collapse because if we don’t do anything to make it solid with time, it will collapse, as some part of it are no longer usable.
“It is because of this that we have approached the state government severally to carry out some renovation, yes, the architectural design can be left like that to be in its original form but some other accessories of it that has given way can be renovated. It is my thought that this place should be left in its original form but some modifications and corrections should be done to ensure that the beauty lasts.”
To many of the residents of the town, particularly those that have been living in Lokoja for years, the state of many of these monuments are regrettable and should be looked into with the aim of giving them facelifts. To the executive director, Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, Idris Miliki, successive governments in the state are guilty of neglecting the edifices put in place by the colonial masters.
He said, “It is unfortunate how they (monuments) have been left unattended to. I am worried that they have been in this sorry state, the relevant agencies’ attention should be drawn. These are monuments that could be used to attract tourists and could generate revenue even the several kings that fought the colonial masters have not been remembered. Both the state and local governments have failed history in this context and I am dissatisfied and disappointed”.
Also speaking on the issue, the state coordinator, Nigerian National Volunteer Service, Mr Itodo, was also of the view that the buildings and sites had not been properly attended to by governments. He was, however, particular about Mount Patti, the place where the name of the country was coined.
According to him, “The historical sites in Kogi State have not received good attention from the successive leadership in the State, I want to make reference to Mount Patti, where thousands of Kogites visit every Saturday, the road to Mount Patti can be expanded, the place can attract more people if sporting facilities are put there and given facelift with modern facilities, it surely can yield revenue, but it is important that something is done about the place urgently.
“The present government can be remembered if different approach is introduced to bring about a total surgical operation to our monuments in the State, if they want to leave a major track record after Governor Yahaya Bello as the driver of a New Direction Agenda.
Historical monuments represent the background story of places they are found and if allowed to go into extinction, it means the children yet unborn will know nothing about the state and how she has evolved. This is how important such places are to our history as a people.
“The approach should be different from the past administration if any meaningful achievement is to be recorded”.
While the people are full of expectations from government over the preservation, protection and renovation of the colonial sites and structures, it is the belief of government that such buildings are monuments that should be allowed to keep their original architectural designs. Special adviser to the governor on culture and tourism, Lewis Asubiojo, said government had already set machinery in motion for the development and renovation of the affected structures. But he said in doing so, the identity of the structures would not be lost since they were monuments that should be permanently kept.
He said, “They are monuments that should be kept for history, the level of renovation that can be done is minimal, these buildings that we are seeing, if they were not touched before, if little renovations were not carried out on them, they would not be like this, we need to maintain their original form.
“For instance, on the NUJ building, we are looking at maintenance and renovation, we don’t want to alter the design, we have to maintain it and not alter the structures. There have always been minor maintenance. The idea we had before was to leave the structures and build certain things around them, but we discovered that some of the woods are falling off, so there will be slight maintenance.
“If you go to Mount Patti, the same thing will happen there, the way the structures are, that is the real historical aspect of it, that was the good thing about it but in less than a year now something big will spring up on Mount Patti, arrangements have been concluded as we are partnering the private sector to develop the tourism sector of the state”.
Credits: Yinka Oladoyinbo | Tribune
