The Shitta-Bey Mosque, located on Martins (Ereko) Street, Lagos Island, is one of the most celebrated mosques in nineteenth-century West Africa. Its architecture reflects the blending of Afro-Brazilian returnee craftsmanship with local patronage and the colonial urban sensibilities of Lagos under British rule. With its ornate façade, decorative balustrades, rendered ornamentation, and other Brazilian stylistic details, the mosque stands as both a religious edifice and a civic statement.
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Patronage and Local Prominence
Mohammed Shitta, later titled Shitta-Bey, financed and commissioned the mosque. A wealthy Muslim merchant of Sierra Leonean origin (part of the Saro / Creole returnee community), Shitta accumulated wealth through palm oil, kola, and other trade, and became a prominent philanthropist in Lagos. His investment in the mosque was motivated by piety, a wish to support Islamic institutions, and communal status. Sources agree that he held respected Muslim titles in Lagos and engaged in multiple acts of religious philanthropy.
Design and Builders
The principal architect was João Baptista da Costa, an Afro-Brazilian returnee known for blending Brazilian architectural elements with local Lagos styles. Local artisans also contributed; among them, a builder named Sanusi Aka is consistently mentioned in several sources. The building is characterised by decorative balustrades, rendered ornamentation, curvilinear and classical motifs adapted to local building practices. Afro-Brazilian architectural vocabulary includes stucco work and stylised ornament rather than extensive use of glazed tiles.
Construction and Inauguration
Construction began about 1891. Different sources indicate varying completion dates: some suggest the structure was largely completed by 1892, others emphasise its formal opening in 1894. What is certain is that the mosque’s inauguration took place on 4 July 1894, in a ceremony presided over by the colonial Governor, Sir G. T. Carter. Present were Oba Oyekan I of Lagos, Edward Wilmot Blyden, Abdullah Quilliam (as representative of Sultan Abdülhamid II), and other elite public figures.
Ottoman Recognition and Abdullah Quilliam’s Role
At the inauguration, Abdullah Quilliam, president of the Liverpool Muslim Association, came as a representative of Sultan Abdülhamid II of the Ottoman Empire. He delivered a letter from the Sultan and conferred upon Mohammed Shitta the Order of the Medjidie, third class, together with the honorific “Bey.” These honours symbolised transatlantic Muslim recognition, lending Lagos’s Muslim community a measure of prestige within the wider Islamic world. However, the third class of the Medjidie is one of several ranks, and while significant, is not always described in sources as “the highest civilian class.”
Architecture, Style, and Civic Meaning
The mosque is built in an Afro-Brazilian style, shaped by the returnee (Aguda / Brazilian) aesthetic combined with local materials and artisans. It includes a single minaret/tower, a prominent façade with six bays on the ground floor front, classical elements (like a triangular pediment) blended with vernacular forms, and façade ornamentation with semi-detached pinnacles, balustrades, and curved lintels. Its presence on Martins (Ereko) Street, a busy, visible part of Lagos Island, makes it a public showpiece as well as a place of worship.
Civic Assertion and Colonial Context
The mosque was not just a religious institution; it was deeply civic. Its inauguration was a public event, bringing together colonial administrators and Lagosian elites. The grant of the “Bey” title and the role of Muslim networks (including influence of overseas Muslim communities via Quilliam and Sierra Leone) positioned Lagos Muslims visibly in colonial urban society. The building suggests that Lagos’s Muslim community used architecture to express identity, prestige, communal status, and cosmopolitan connection.
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Conservation and Legacy
Today, the Shitta-Bey Mosque remains in active use and is formally designated a national monument/protected heritage site. It is listed among Nigeria’s notable Afro-Brazilian architectural legacies. Conservation efforts focus on stabilising the decorative external ornamentation and maintaining the façade. Despite urban pressures and material ageing, the mosque attracts historians, architects, and visitors interested in its transatlantic heritage.
Author’s note
Shitta-Bey Mosque endures not only as a remarkable architectural achievement but also as a marker of cross-cultural faith, returnee identity, and colonial-era Muslim assertion in Lagos. Financed by Mohammed Shitta, designed by Josué / João Baptista da Costa, opened in 1894, honoured by Ottoman distinctives, and embodied Afro-Brazilian craft, local agency, and a public statement about Islam’s place in colonial Lagos.
References
Legal Pluralism in Colonial Lagos: The 1894 Petition of the Lagos Muslims to their British Colonial Masters. Die Welt des Islams. 2012. Ostien & Makinde.
HPIP: Mosque of Shitta Bey, Lagos. Heritage Architecture documentation.
Daily Trust, “Shitta Bey Mosque: Visiting a historic masterpiece” by Nahimah Ajikanle Nurudeen.
