Cocoa House

Cocoa House, was completed in July 1964 and commissioned in July 1965[1].[2] At a height of 105 metres[3], it was the first skyscraper in West Africa.[4][5] and was, from 1965 to 1979, the tallest building in Nigeria.[6]

Cocoa House

It is located in Dugbe, a major commercial area in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. It was built from proceeds of agricultural commodities (e.g., Cocoa, Rubber, Timber) of the then Western State of Nigeria.[7]

The building today houses offices for major firms and broadcasting companies.[2] Odu’a Investment Company Limited occupies three floors of Cocoa House. The Odua Museum and Hall of Fame which was commissioned by Professor Wole Soyinka in 2013 [2][8]

Name

The initial name given to the 26-storey building was 'Ile Awon Agbe', translating from Yoruba to 'House of Farmers' in English.[9][10]

The name was later changed to Cocoa House because it was built with proceeds from cocoa exportation and also because there was a cocoa tree planted in front of the building just beside a water fountain. The building, belonging to the Odua Investment Company Limited, became a source of joy and pride for the residents of Ibadan and Nigeria as a whole.[11]

History

The 26-storey building was proposed by Obafemi Awolowo with allocations from the proceeds of cocoa exportation and commissioned by the National Investment and Property Company (NIPC), a property development company set up by the government.[1]

The entire building was gutted by fire on January 9, 1985,[1][2] which began in the top floors from malfunctioning electrical equipment. It was closed from public use until it was renovated in August 1992[1].[2] [10] and re-opened for commercial use.

The building is managed by Wemabod Estates Limited, a subsidiary of O'dua group of companies.[12] It is the property of Odu'a Investment Company Limited.

References
  1. KEHINDE, Fem (December 4, 2021). "Cocoa House Ibadan: Mansion in the sky, reminiscences and metaphors". Vanguard.
  2. Tabbey-Botchwey, Adom (2019-08-14). "Explore the history of Nigeria's Cocoa House, the first skyscraper in West Africa". Face2Face Africa. Retrieved 2023-03-05.
  3. "Cocoa House, Ibadan - SkyscraperPage.com". skyscraperpage.com. Retrieved 2023-03-05.
  4. "Ibadan travel guide". Archived from the original on 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  5. "Cocoa House: Tropical Africa's first skyscraper (Includes first-hand account)". www.digitaljournal.com. 2011-12-23. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  6. "NECOM House, Lagos - SkyscraperPage.com". skyscraperpage.com. Retrieved 2023-03-05.
  7. "Cocoa House: Nigeria's 1st skyscraper is decaying even though it rakes in millions of naira for 6 states [Special Report]". Pulse Nigeria. 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  8. admin. "ODU'A MUSEUM & HALL OF FAME". Retrieved 2023-03-05.
  9. "Whither Odu's group: The rot in Cocoa House". Vanguard News. 2018-04-06. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  10. "Articles • Connect Nigeria".
  11. "Explore the history of Nigeria's Cocoa House, the first skyscraper in West Africa". Face2Face Africa. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  12. L. Denzer, Folayegbe M. Akintunde-Ighodalo: a public life. Ibadan: Sam Bookman Publishers, 2001.


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