The Elephant House
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The Elephant house is located in Lagos, Nigeria. Lagos is one of the most populated cities in the world. It was formerly the capital of Nigeria, until in 1991 when Ikeja became the new capital and Abuja became the federal government capital. The Portuguese were the first to take over Lagos, developing the countries trade system. It went under British control in 1861, Lagos was part of the United Kingdom’s West African Settlements from 1866 to 1874, when it became part of the Gold Coast Colony.1 Lagos broke away from the British in 1906 and in 1960 Lagos was the new capital of Nigeria. It is the largest city in West Africa.2
An article was released on March 15, 2017 regarding the Elephant building being renovated. There is just not an elephant on the building, but there are lions and other animals around it as well. Elephants can symbolize many things, like strength, wisdom, peace and loyalty. In Nigeria they play a role in their ecosystem, Elephants play a critical role as ecosystem engineers, maintaining mineral-rich clearings in the forest, on which many other species rely, and providing a way for important soil nutrients to be spread around at a continental scale.4 Elephants help with the growing of crops in this country. As of recently elephants are not as common in Nigeria.
This site is not listed as a monument or cultural site, it is also unclear as to why this is important or considered a monument. It was quite hard to find any information or significance of this building. It is just known for its “ugly” appearance. It seems like a new tax came from this building. The article, Lagos state introduces Ugly Building tax, which was written in 2010, talks about this new law which taxes old buildings for their appearance, Little is known of the grotesque “Elephant House” in Lagos, Nigeria but the jaw-dropping edifice has become the poster child for Nigeria’s more curious property ownership laws.5 It seems to represent something in Nigerian culture but what that may be is a mystery.
