Nigeria: A Disappearing Lagos

The Church Missionary Society Bookshop house and tower (CMS Bookshop) was built in 1973 by G Cappa and designed by Architects Godwin and Hopwood with sun screening and windows to reduce the heat load on the air-conditioning. It is still one of the few buildings in Nigeria to have a facade correctly designed to exclude direct sunlight between 9am and 5pm with a consequent astonishing 75% saving in air-conditioning loading on the office floors, in Lagos, Nigeria. What is predicted to become the most populous city in Africa was initially ignored by the Portuguese explorers who first dominated it, served as a hub for a brutal slave trade and once held the hope of a continent that even now struggles to overcome its colonial past. Date: April 01, 2012. Image: Sunday Alamba

Commercial buses park in front of the gothic style designed Chrit Church Cathedral, which incorporates Brazilian details and motifs with the foundation stone laid by Prince Edward in 1925, but was not completed until 1948. It's imposing tower dominates the road junction and this part of Marina in Lagos island, Nigeria. Date: April 01, 2012. Image: Sunday Alamba

In this photo taken Sunday, April. 1, 2012, Doherty Villa, was built in 1895 by liberated slaves returned from Brazil and known as the Amaro who tended to settle on the island in Lagos, Nigeria. What is predicted to become the most populous city in Africa was initially ignored by the Portuguese explorers who first dominated it, served as a hub for a brutal slave trade and once held the hope of a continent that even now struggles to overcome its colonial past. Image: Sunday Alamba