Mohammed Shitta Bey

Chief Mohammed Shitta-Bey (19 December 1824 – 4 July 1895), alias Olowo Pupa, was the first titled Seriki Musulumi ( a Nigerian chieftain) of Lagos. He was a prominent Nigerian Muslim businessman, aristocrat and philanthropist who was involved in commerce across Lagos and the Niger-Delta region.
He was also a patron of the Shitta-Bey Mosque in Lagos, and served as a leader in the Lagos Muslim community until his death. He is known to be one of the founding fathers of legitimate commerce in precolonial Nigeria; as at the time of his death he was the most prominent and wealthiest Muslim trader in West Africa.

Early life

ShittaBey is an honorary title given later in life, thus not used here until appropriate was born in the liberated African village of Waterloo, Sierra Leone, to Salu and Aishat Shitta, repatriated Yoruba people who were rescued by the British West Africa Squadron from the Atlantic Slave Trade and were a part of the Oku Mohammedan community in Sierra Leone. Shitta'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; he was also known as William Shitta. Although Shitta was baptized as a child by CMS missionaries in Freetown, he reverted to his father's Muslim faith when the Shitta family emigrated to Badagry in 1844.
Through his paternal lineage, Shitta was a direct descendant of Alaafin Abiodun.

Business career and influence in colonial Lagos

In 1852, a crisis in Badagry between Akitoye and Kosoko forced Shitta's family to move to Lagos. 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, where he situated a factory. By 1881, he had acquired a steamer for conveying goods from the Niger to the coast. He accumulated significant wealth trading such goods as palm oil, ivory, kola nuts, egusi, gum copal, 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 and Oyekan I. He served as an adviser to Oba Oyekan I, 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.

Kola nut farming

Due to language advantages, the Saro (Shitta's community) emerged as a dominant commercial group in Lagos. Having developed a migratory forte, they had an edge as travellers who were able to go into the interiors to meet directly with various commodity producers and traders. They were the pioneer southern Nigerian traders in kola, a cash crop that later emerged as a viable and important export commodity for the western region in the early twentieth century.Agiri, Babatunde "The Introduction of Nitida Kola into Nigerian Agriculture, 1880–1920", ''African Economic History'', No. 3, Spring 1977, p. 1.

The Saro introduced the crop which was bought from Hausa traders across the River Niger into southern Nigerian agriculture. The first kola farm and the dominant trading firm in kola were both orchestrated by Saros.Agiri, Babatunde "The Introduction of Nitida Kola into Nigerian Agriculture, 1880–1920", ''African Economic History'', No. 3, Spring 1977, p. 1.

Montaigac and Cyprien Fabre and Company v. Shitta, July 17th 1890

Mohamed Shitta, a prominent Nigerian merchant of the late 19th century, was renowned for his immense wealth, generosity, and financial acumen. His business empire extended into diverse ventures, including the operation of factories and expansive trading networks. The scale of his personal fortune and the respect he commanded were highlighted in the landmark case of Montaiganc and Cyprien Fabre & Co. v. Shitta (1890), which underscored his role as a financier and influential figure in the economic landscape of Lagos Colony.

The case arose from a series of loans amounting to £6,000 (equivalent to approximately £850,000 to £1 million in 2024) advanced by Shitta to Giuseppe Del Grande, an agent acting on behalf of Cyprien Fabre & Co., a French trading firm with significant interests on the West African coast. Remarkably, Shitta provided these funds without requiring interest for several years, a testament to his vast resources and benevolent character. His willingness to extend such a large sum on such favorable terms underscored his financial independence and the trust he placed in his business relationships.

The Privy Council ultimately deliberated on whether Cyprien Fabre & Co. could be held liable for the debt incurred by Del Grande, who had operated under the wide-ranging powers granted by the company. The loan, delivered in multiple installments between 1884 and 1885, reflected Shitta’s central role in facilitating commerce in Lagos. The court’s examination of the case not only illustrated the legal complexities of agency and commercial partnerships in colonial trade but also highlighted Shitta’s pivotal position in the region’s economic networks.

Shitta’s involvement in this high-profile litigation underscores his unparalleled financial capacity and his reputation as a generous and trustworthy financier. His ability to extend such significant sums without immediate financial returns demonstrated both the scale of his wealth and his integrity, marking him as one of the foremost figures in the economic and social history of 19th-century West Africa.

Religion and philanthropy

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

Construction of the Shitta-Bey Mosque

Mohammed Shitta financed the construction of the landmark Shitta-Bey Mosque 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 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 Oyekan I, Edward Wilmot Blyden, Abdullah Quilliam (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.

"Bey" title

At the Shitta-Bey Mosque launch that Shitta was honoured with the "Bey" 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. He left behind a son named Kareem and two grandchildren named Malik and Sulaiman. While Sulaiman would inherit his father's title, the youngest grandchild Malik would later immigrate to the United States to try and establish a Mosque and a Muslim presence in the Southern United States.

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{{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 from colonial Nigeria
Deaths from influenza
Yoruba Islamic religious leaders
Nigerian commodities traders
Nigerian landowners
Saro people
People from Waterloo, Sierra Leone
19th-century landowners
People from Lagos Colony