The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
promised that the federal government will not let the persons who pulled
down a historic structure built by returnee slaves from Brazil to go
scot-free.
Muhammed made the vow in a statement issued monday
after inspecting the cite of the 190-year-old structure in Lagos at the
weekend.
The Brazilian themed edifice was gazetted as a national monument in 1956.
Government has already instituted legal actions against the developers over the property.
Muhammad vowed that government would not tolerate the destruction of
national monuments anywhere in the country for whatever reason.
‘’Because they wanted to develop this place, they have broken so many
laws. Fortunately, this is a country of laws and we are ready to meet
them in court and one thing I can assure you is that nobody can benefit
from his own crime.
‘’I want to assure you that we will challenge
them in court and we are going to get our reliefs and we will restore
this building to its formal glory. We have the picture, we will rebuild
it,’’ he said.
He lamented that the monument was symbolic as it chronicled the
historical, cultural and social relationship between Nigeria and Brazil.
‘’It
is like a living monument of our (slave trade) past. It was a monument
that exhibited the Brazilian architecture at that time, which is rare to
come by anywhere in the world. It is a remembrance of what our
ancestors went through in slavery and how they triumphed, came back and
showed that they were well-to-do. The important thing is that a people
without history will perish very fast. This building was worth billions
of dollars because it symbolised our past.
‘’No amount of
skyscrapers can replace this history and all important monument that has
been demolished, and I want to assure you that nobody can profit from
his crime. You cannot go to court now and say that because the structure
has been destroyed, the land should go back to the owner.
‘’This
is why I have come here with the (Lagos State) Commissioner of Police,
who has been quite helpful. I want to assure Nigerians that we are going
to pursue whoever has destroyed this place. It may take time, but the
hand of the law is long and the wheel of justice grinds
slowly but surely,’’ he said.
