Chief Mohammed Shitta-Bey (c.1824 – 4 July 1895), alias Olowo Pupa, was the first titled Seriki Musulumi of

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

. He was a prominent Nigerian Muslim businessman, aristocrat and philanthropist who was involved in commerce across

and the Niger-Delta region. He was also a patron of the

Shitta-Bey Mosque Shitta-Bey Mosque is a mosque, religious learning centre and one of the oldest mosques in Nigeria. The mosque is located at Martins Ereko Street, Lagos Island, Lagos, Nigeria. It was established in 1892 and designated as National monument by Nige ...

in Lagos, and served as a leader in the Lagos Muslim community until his death.

Early life

Shitta-Bey was born in the

liberated African The liberated Africans of Sierra Leone, also known as recaptives, were Africans who had been illegally enslaved onboard slave ships and rescued by anti-slavery patrols from the West Africa Squadron of the Royal Navy. After the British Parliament ...

village of

Waterloo, Sierra Leone Waterloo is a city in the Western Area of Sierra Leone and the Capital city, capital of the Western Area Rural District, which is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. Waterloo is located about twenty miles east of Freetown. Waterloo is ...

, to Salu and Aishat Shitta, repatriated Yoruba people who were rescued by the British

West Africa Squadron The West Africa Squadron, also known as the Preventative Squadron, was a squadron of the British Royal Navy whose goal was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. Formed in 1808 after the British Parliam ...

from the Atlantic Slave Trade and were a part of the Oku Mohammedan community in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

. Shitta-Bey's parents moved from Waterloo to Fourah Bay around 1831, where his father became Imam of the Fourah Bay Muslim community. Shitta's birth name was Mohammed Shitta. The name "

Bey Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...

" was a title awarded to him by the Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid II, in recognition of Shitta's philanthropy. He was also known as William Shitta. Although Shitta was baptized as a child by

CMS CMS may refer to: Computing * Call management system * CMS-2 (programming language), used by the United States Navy * Code Morphing Software, a technology used by Transmeta * Collection management system for a museum collection * Color manag ...

missionaries in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...

, he reverted to his father's Muslim faith when the Shitta family emigrated to

Badagry Badagry (traditionally Gbagli) also spelled Badagri, is a coastal town and Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is quite close to the city of Lagos, and located on the north bank of Porto Novo Creek, an inland waterway that con ...

in 1844.

Business career and influence in colonial Lagos

In 1852, a crisis in Badagry between

Akitoye Akitoye (died September 2, 1853), sometimes wrongly referred to as Akintoye, reigned twice as Oba of Lagos; first, from 1841 to 1845, and a second time, from 1851 to 1853. His father was Oba Ologun Kutere and his siblings were Obas Osinlokun an ...

and

Kosoko Kosoko (died 1872) was a member of the Ologun Kutere Lagos Royal Family who reigned as Oba of Lagos from 1845 to 1851. His father was Oba Osinlokun and his siblings were Idewu Ojulari (who was Oba from 1829 to 1834/35), Olufunmi, Odunsi, Ladeg ...

forced Shitta's family to move to

. He became an agent to the firms of Pinnock B & Co and Messrs Miller & co. Shitta acquired a tract of land in Egga, a town along the

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languageskola nuts,

egusi Egusi (Yoruba: '' ẹ̀gúsí,'' Igbo: ègwusi), also known as, agusi, ohue, Ikpan, Ikon, or agushi) is the name for the protein-rich seeds of certain cucurbitaceous plants ( squash, melon, gourd), which, after being dried and ground, are us ...

gum copal Gum copal is a resin produced by the sap of forest tree in the genus Daniellia. Due to common impurities and differences in regions, gum copal ranges in color from black to yellow to white. Gum copal, along with ivory and slaves, was a significant ...

, hides and clothes, and built a pious reputation. Shitta also expanded his business activities to Sierra Leone. Shitta's influence also rose as he was friendly with Obas

Dosunmu Dosunmu (c. 1823 – 1885), referred to in British documents as Docemo, reigned as Oba of Lagos from 1853, when he succeeded his father Oba Akitoye, until his own death in 1885. He was forced to run away to Britain under the threat of force in A ...

and

Oyekan I Oba Oyekan I (died September 30, 1900) reigned as the Lagos Monarch from March 1885 - September 30, 1900. He ascended the throne about a month after the death of his father Oba Dosunmu. Prince Oyekan vs. Chief Apena Ajasa incident In 1883, Oba ...

. He served as an adviser to Oba

, and financed Oyekan's candidacy for the Lagos throne until the colonial government approved Oyekan's succession of Dosunmu. As evidence of his political clout, acting colonial Governor Denton identified Shitta as a powerful force resisting the supervision of Muslim schools under the British Board of Education. Subsequently, Shitta acquiesced in his opposition to Western education and joined other members in the Muslim community to promote the idea of a Muslim School teaching modern subjects. Shitta also earned the nickname "Olowo Pupa" (or red money) because of his famous gold cowrie coins.

Religious life

Shitta-Bey was also a philanthropist who donated funds for the growth of Islam in Lagos and Sierra Leone, financing the construction of mosques in both places including the Jamiul Salaam mosque in Foulah town. He was a major donor for the construction of the Lagos Central Mosque in 1873 and held the

chieftaincy A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categori ...

title of the Seriki Musulumi of Lagos, thus making him the leader of the Muslims of Lagos.

Construction of the Shitta-Bey Mosque and conferment of the "Bey" title by the Ottoman Empire

Mohammed Shitta financed the construction of the landmark

in 1891 at costs reported by various authors to be between £3000 and £7000. The mosque featured Afro-Brazilian themed architecture created by Senor Joao Baptista Da Costa, a Brazilian returnee to Lagos who was assisted by an indigenous builder named Sanusi Aka. Senor Da Costa also designed the

Taiwo Olowo Chief Daniel Conrad Taiwo (1781 – February 20, 1901), alias Taiwo Olowo (translated as "Taiwo the Rich man"), was a trader, arms dealer, slave owner, political power broker, philanthropist and community leader in Colonial Lagos. Early life Tai ...

Monument in Lagos. The Shitta-Bey Mosque launched on 4 July 1894, at a ceremony presided over by the Governor of Lagos, Sir Gilbert Carter. Others in attendance included Oba

Edward Wilmot Blyden Edward Wilmot Blyden (3 August 1832 – 7 February 1912) was a Liberian educator, writer, diplomat, and politician who was primarily active in West Africa. Born in the Danish West Indies, he joined the waves of black immigrants from the ...

Abdullah Quilliam William Henry Quilliam (10 April 1856 – 23 April 1932), who changed his name to Abdullah Quilliam and later Henri Marcel Leon or Haroun Mustapha Leon, was a 19th-century convert from Christianity to Islam, noted for founding England's first mo ...

(who represented Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire), and prominent Lagosian Christians such as James Pinson Labulo Davies, John Otunba Payne, and Richard Beale Blaize. Quilliam brought a letter accredited to the Sultan of Turkey asking Lagos Muslims to embrace Western education. It was at the Shitta-Bey Mosque launch that Mohammed Shitta was honoured with the "

" title, the Ottoman Order of Medjidie 3rd class (the highest class for a civilian) by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Thereafter, Mohammed Shitta became known by the compound name Shitta-Bey.

Death

Mohammed Shitta-Bey died of influenza in Lagos on 4 July 1895, exactly one year after the launch of the Shitta-Bey Mosque.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shitta Bey, Mohammed 1824 births 1895 deaths 19th-century Nigerian businesspeople Yoruba businesspeople Oku people History of Lagos Yoruba philanthropists Sierra Leonean people of Yoruba descent Sierra Leonean emigrants to Nigeria Nigerian Muslims Businesspeople from Lagos People of colonial Nigeria Deaths from influenza Yoruba Muslim leaders Nigerian commodities traders Nigerian landowners Saro people People from Waterloo, Sierra Leone