Born out of the ruins of Her Majesty’s Broad Street
Prisons, Freedom Park is a memorial and leisure park on Lagos Island.
The park which serves as a National memorial, historical
landmark, cultural site, and a recreation centre reveals the colonial heritage
of Lagos. Freedom Park was built to commemorate the 50th anniversary
Independence celebration in October 2010.
Designed by the Architect Theo Lawson, Freedom Park was
formerly known as Her Majesty’s Broad Street Prisons which was established after
Britain made Lagos a colony in 1861. The initial prison structure was built in
1882 with mud walls and grass thatch but did not last long due to sabotage from
colonial government opposition. According to the architect of Freedom Park,
Theo Lawson, opponents of British colonialism in Lagos, “kept throwing fire
into it and setting it ablaze and so then in 1885, the colonial government
imported bricks from England and rebuilt the prison”.
Some notable prisoners at Broad Street Prison include
Herbert Macaulay, Obafemi Awolowo, and
Anthony Enahoro.
Broad Street Prisons was pulled down in 1979 and reduced to
a dumping site until plans were set in motion to transform it into what we now call
“Freedom Park Lagos”.
I am Qismat Aderayo Yinus a.k.a thatisaleekochick and I am proud to celebrate a historical landmark
located in the heart of Lagos, called Freedom Park.
Photography by the super creative @agababolaji
Makeup by the lovely @kvng_shantel
Wardrobe @eshobyqismat
Creative director @thatisaleekochick
Creative director @thatisaleekochick
Follow on twitter Follow @BeautifulBlogga
No comments:
Post a comment