Old Secretariat, Marina

One of the early examples of Nigerian colonial public buildings still stands tall on 14 Marina Street, Lagos, South-West Nigeria. The Lagos Old Secretariat, more than a century old, sits on a site of approximately two acres. It was built to house the British colonial administration of the then Southern Protectorate of Nigeria. The Old Secretariat, once called the Central Secretary’s Office, was designed and constructed by the Public Works Department (PWD), which was responsible for many of the colonial administrative buildings in the country.

The location of the old national secretariat in Marina, Lagos was significant as it was formerly the administrative seat of Lagos colony and subsequently, the capital of the Southern Protectorate of Nigeria (1906). Tthe Lagos Marina is also the site to other similarly imposing historic administrative buildings. The Government House and Government Printing Press are some of the old colonial structures that still stand on Lagos Island today. At the site’s gate, one is immediately struck by the imposing ambiance of order and authority the building exudes, features that are synonymous with its typology. The concepts of symmetry and repetition speak loudly to the observer through slender columns, large windows, and dominant arches.