The Façade Nigeria Periodical (October 2023)

Every October is themed Memorial October, and we have an interesting lineup.

We remember Susan Laura Carter, Marian Elizabeth Coker, Abigail Macaulay, Joao Tiberius Munis, Aina Tokosi, Sofolahan Josiah Sawyerr, Richard Beale Blaize Jnr., Eniola Bank Olemoh, Jean Margaret Alan Denton &c., giving a biographical account of their lives and for some of these individuals, we share never-before-seen photos of them and their exquisitely designed tombstones in the historic cemeteries across Lagos.

In Lagos, there was a charity organization called the Rebecca Hussey Charity Institute which was set up by a Trustee in London after the death of Rebecca Hussey, daughter of Sir Thomas Hussey of Lincolnshire, who bequeathed £1,000 for the redemption of slaves or the easement of their slavery, and for those who had been redeemed be baptized. The Trustees earmarked the sum of £23,481 14s 4d (which had accumulated from 1714) in 1863 to set up institutes in Lagos and St. Helena, for Lagos, the result being the establishment of the aforementioned Institute which was originally set up on Tokunboh Street, on land given by the Government of Lagos.

We also remember the devastating incident on the 20th of October, 2020 in Lagos, Nigeria, and we conclude the list of Afro-Brazilians who departed this life in 1907.

For us at The Façade Nigeria, October is a time of reflection, remembering every individual that lived in the 1800s and early years of the 1900s and walking through their lives as we read about them.

We hope you enjoyed September and we hope to see you again in November where we celebrate the Afro-Brazilians of Lagos, looking back on a historic event and a modern day celebration of it, and in December when we look back on the Fanti (Brazilian) Carnival from 2022 through a gallery of pictures &c.

From these hallowed halls, see you in November

- Kelechi Anabaraonye