Some of the colonial monuments in Lokoja the Kogi State capital are suffering from abuses and neglect. They are begging for rebirth, writes Tosin Makinde who notes that the midwife of Nigeria’s amalgamation in 1914 Lord Lugard used to live in Lokoja.
Remember those famous colonial monuments in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital? They include the late Frederick Lord Lugard’s residence and office, Iron of liberty, Mount Panti, the cenotaph, the oldest school, prison and hospital in northern Nigeria.
All these monuments make Kogi the state with the highest concentration of colonial historical relics and monuments in the country. But, lack of interest and patronage from the people and the government are threatening to throw the glory they brought to Lokoja into the dark alley of historical obscurity.
Aside poor patronage, some of the monuments’ premises are being abused by people who have turned them into dump sites. The development is making the state to lose internal revenue that would have been generated from tourism.
But one of such monuments brings back old memories of colonial administrator’s living environment. Sitting in his colonial-styled British-made arm chair, the late Frederick Lord Lugard is spotted dressed in his highly decorated British military colonial officer uniform. Inside his pent Rest House built strategically on top of the 458 metres Mount Panti, which beholds the majestic River Niger, he consistently filled his pen with ink. That setting was perhaps the needed ambience for him to write one of the most controversial colonial books, Dual mandate in which he stated that an average African “lacks the power of organisation, and is conspicuously deficient in the management and control alike of men or business…
“Perhaps, the two traits which have impressed me as those most characterise of the African native are his lack of apprehension and ability to visualise the future”.
Callous and untenable, one might want to argue about Lugard’s view of Africa and Africans, the present realities in Lokoja where majority of Nigeria’s colonial legacies lie shows that Lugard’s views could maybe true to some extent.
How does one explain a situation where students of History and International Studies in Kogi State higher institutions cannot name nor describe the location or know the existence of those colonial monuments that define Lokoja and for which Lokoja is known? A lecturer got a shock when he asked his students about what they know about the colonial monuments in Lokoja and none of them could tell him anything tangible about them.
It is not only the students that are showing indifference to the monuments in Lokoja. Some residents show same, thus, giving credence to what Lugard said in his book that Africans.
One fact is that Nigeria’s colonial history is woven around Kogi State, particularly Lokoja remain incontestable. But one worrisome fact is that the people care less about the existence or significance of these monuments, which if well maintained could fetch the state fortunes as tourists’ sites.
For Abdul, a Motor-cycle operator in Lokoja, the only thing he knows about the cenotaph, which was erected in honour of soldiers that fought in the First and Second World wars is that it is a place where soldiers converge in January every year for match past. He does not know where the colonial cemeteries are located.
Abdul is not the only culprit in this show of ignorance. According to Mr. Samson Oyetunde, a staff in one of the universities in Lokoja, it is not that the people don’t know of these places but they know next to little about what they represent or their significance. “We know that these monuments are there but we don’t know what they stand for or what they symbolise. We don’t put them in mind”
To him, it is the government that should take the initiative in creating the needed awareness about the significance of these monuments to the development of Lokoja and Kogi State in general. “If the government is proactive and comes up with initiative that aim at creating awareness for these monuments, the people will change,” he said.
However, the General Manager, Kogi State Hotels and Tourism Board, Mr. Olowolayemo Joseph thinks differently about the state of the monuments. To him, the people’s lackadaisical attitude towards the promotion and celebration of these legacies cannot be justified saying that government has put in place various programmes aimed at creating awareness about these monuments and gearing up the interest of the people. “The attitude of the people is uncalled for, it is a sad situation that even foreigners care and show more interest in our legacies than our people do,” he lamented.
He said that among the initiatives of the government in ensuring the promotion of the significance of the legacies is a programme on youth sensitisation on the Nigerian Television Authority among others.
“NTA usually shows clips of these colonial monuments every day before reading the News. We are also planning to launch a book during this centenary period titled ‘Nigeria in the eyes of Lokoja,’ which will be available to the public and help increase the awareness,” he revealed, stressing that one cannot talk about Nigeria history without mentioning the city of Lokoja.
True. Writing Nigeria colonial history without the mention of Lokoja will only amount to half measure not with the array of first Governor-General of Nigeria, the late Sir Fredrick Lugard leftovers. It was reported that it was in Lokoja that the name of Nigeria was coined by Miss Flora Shaw later Mrs. Lugard while admiring the majestic River Niger.
Not wanting to do away with some of the colonial legacies of the city, the seat of the state government used to serve as Lord Lugard’s office and residence. It retained its original structure with minor renovations as the ambience at the entrance to Kogi State Government House speaks volume about it.
In 1900, the Charter given to the Royal Niger Company to administer Lokoja since 1866 was revoked and the protectorate of Northern Nigerian was declared with Fredrick Lugard as the High Commissioner. The spot where that revocation took place is still standing till today and it is marked with a concrete pillar measuring about 2 ½ metres tall. The European and African Cemeteries in Lokoja are another set of colonial monuments worthy of visiting. Here Europeans and Africans missionaries and soldiers were buried in three different places within Lokoja Township- harbouring about six hundred graves.
Lokoja was also a very important town during the slave trade era especially after the abolition of the trade by British government. It was in Lokoja that slaves that were rescued from Slave Merchants ship were set free. The spot where such slaves were freed from slave merchants is marked with two pieces of iron poles referred to as ‘Iron of Liberty”, a crusade championed by the late Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, this Iron Of Liberty is located inside the compound of Crowther Holy Trinity School.
In the area of colonial education, Lokoja can boost of being in possession of acclaimed oldest school in Northern Nigeria –the Holy Trinity (Bishop Crowther) Primary School constructed in 1865 by the Church Missionaries Society (CMS) and still in use till date as the Holy Trinity (Bishop Crowther) Primary School.
Other colonial monuments that will make one wonder why the people and residents of Lokoja hardly take note of them or take interest in them are the Graveyards of deposed Northern Emirs who were deposed to Lokoja for refusing to be used as agents of colonial masters, the Lord Lugard’s senior staff quarters, which are a set of prefabricated buildings whose materials were brought from England and being used today as the office of Kogi State Hotels and Tourism Board.
Probably the most celebrated tourism treasure and rightly promoted and made use of by Lord Lugard during his time but not being used to its fullest by the government and the people in today’s tourism world is Mount Panti. Overlooking the Niger River and hemming the town westward is the towering Mount Panti standing 458.3 metres or 1,500 feet above sea level with a stretch of 15 kilometre square plateaus. This wonderful gift nature bestows on Lokoja overlooks Lokoja like a monolith making it possible to view the scenic plain that surrounds the city.
His Excellency, the late Lugard so much fell in love with this natural beauty that he built his resting house on it from where he savoured the beauty of nature outlay in Lokoja.
Other colonial monuments in Lokoja include the Oldest Hospital in Northern Nigeria, the Oldest Prison in Northern Nigeria, the Safe of the Oldest Treasury in Northern Nigeria and the Cenotaph erected in honour of the Nigerian and African soldiers who fought in World war 1 and 2.
All these monuments, no doubt turned Kogi state into one with the highest concentration of colonial historical relics and monuments than any other sates in Nigeria. But the lack of interest and patronage from the people and the government is threatening to throw the glory they have brought to Lokoja into the dark alley of historical obscurity.
