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After viewing the photographs mounted by Mrs. Gillian Hopwood-Godwin at the Photographic Exhibition tagged Lagos, 50 Year Ago hosted by the Lagos and District Society of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria - ICAN, the visitors to the event struggled to hold back tears. For today's Lagos is definitely not the paradisial Lagos of 50 years ago.

It is disheartening to note how years of blatant disregard for environmental regulations has lead to the collapse of Lagos in less than 50 years. Hence it is easy to understand why sighs, hisses, shouts and even screams were heard now and then from the viewers, who included the ICAN President Bashorun J.K. Randle.

Gillian, a British Architect, had arrived the shores of this country with her husband (John Godwin) in 1954. On her arrival, she was fascinated by her new environment. Armed with a Microcord twin- lens reflex camera, she went out taking photographs on a certain Sunday in April, 1954 around midday. According to her, the photographs were taken randomly with the intention "of sending it home to my people for them to share my experience of my new abode. I never knew people would ask me to exhibit them in this kind of forum someday."

She had worked most of time, improvising. She developed the negatives using the cupboard in her bedroom as her dark room and cooling the chemical in the kerosene refrigerator supplied with the flat in Brickfield Road, Ebute Metta, their first home.

The photographs vividly tell the story of the magnificence of old Lagos Island as a serene, clean and functional environment. Those were the days of broad and well-laid out streets, firm and well-kept buildings, hardly any fenced buildings etc. There were no danfos or molues, no agberos or 'Area Boys' on the streets, no burglary proof on houses doors and windows, no giant gates of any kind.

The photographs covered almost all parts of Lagos Island. From Iga Idungaran down to the Five Cowrie Creek, and from Marina waterfront to Okesuna, Gillian's lens recorded the aurora that was Lagos in the 1950s.

Pictures of old Broad Street viewed from Tinubu Square (nick-named Piccadilly Circus of Lagos then) and pictures of Balogun Square contrast sharply to the anarchic business districts they have become today. Broad Street was really 'broad' then and was well-marked with functional traffic insignias. Every photograph of Broad Street on exhibit display a well-laid out street devoid of confusion and chaos that characterises it today. Viewers could hardly miss the Ilojo Bar (1880) on Balogun Square. The Bar was listed as a monument at independence in 1960.

Another photograph of note was Henry Carr's House which also houses his library. It will be recalled that Henry Carr's library moved to the University College Ibadan Library upon his death.

There were also photographs of St. Anna Court No. 1 which replaced an earlier one in 1904, the Central Police Station on Broad Street West,

There are also pictures of landmark feature around Tafawa Balewa Square (then known as the Lagos Race Course) and its environs. The old King's College devoid of fence, the Church of Our Saviour (then known as St. Saviours), Government Officers' Residence (1890), Lagos Museum under construction, the Supreme Court (completed in 1954) and the Legislative Chamber (later Senate House in Second Republic), among others.

Down Onikan (Nigeria's first Government Residential Area (GRA) were pictures of old Island Club for whites only where Harold Macmillan made his famous "Wind of Change" speech, Island Club 'A' for Africans, Onikan Bridge leading to Creek Hospital, Moloney Bridge, then the main access to Ikoyi, Five Cowrie Bridge (so named because it used to cost five cowries to be ferried across the Lagoon before the construction of the bridge). There were also shots of the first British Council Headquarters and H. O. Davies House on Berkeley Street (which like Bobby Benson's place along Ikorodu, is almost extinct).

The photograph of Carter Bridge gave a good view of Iddo and the Lagos Railway Terminal under construction. There were also panoramic shots of Ebutte Ero and Ikoyi, once known as the most exclusive residential area in the world.

In Okesuna and its environs, viewers are reminded of Moloney Bridge and Street, Okepopo Marina, Zarpas Bus Comapny Headquarters and residence. Zarpas still holds the world record of catching the largest tarpon ever.

Viewing Apapa Quays from the Lagos Harbour, Gillain's lens recorded Elder Dempster mail boat, 'MV Anvil' discharging its passengers amongst who are "been-tos", Government House main entrance on Marina with the Governor's Launch (Ferry Boat) awaiting Sir John Macpherson, Lagos Lagoon with ships, vessels, ferries and wooden boats criss-crossing routes, construction of the Ijora 'B' power plant in progress. It will be recalled that the power plant was opened by the British Queen in 1956. According to Gillian, the project is today "an empty shell".

There are also photographs of the old Legislative Council Offices, Government Secretariat (1895) looking towards Holy Cross Cathedral, the second incarnation of the Bank of British West Africa (where first Bank now stands), Alagbon House, the old post office and Christ Church Cathedral at the background. And looking towards the Five Cowrie Creek, on the left is King George V's Park and the 'Love Gardens' and then Lagos Central Hospital.

Even the palace of the Oba of Lagos (Iga Idungaran) did not escape the probing lens of Gillian.

Street scenes include shots of Broad Street with Union Trading Company Limited (UTC also known as Basel Departmental Store), Lagos City Offices along Catholic Mission Street, Victoria Street (now Nnamdi Azikiwe Street) with Tom Jones Hall and Library in the distance and the Syrian Clock at Idumota in the foreground. The Syrian clock is the only feature still standing today.

Along Broad Street are features like the prison (which has since been moved to Kirikiri), Baptist Church and Academy and the old secretariat, St. Georges Hall, the 'six storey' building.

One of the most interesting pictures exhibited is that of the Dentist's House. An emotional Gillian explained, "Sorry, I have to pull that down for the Bookshop House to stand where it is today." She said that the Dentist's House may have been designed by Brazilian Senhor Lazaro Borges da Silva.

In his own contribution, John Godwin (also an architect) said as at the time of Gillian's photographic recording, " Lagos had changed little during a period of perhaps 20 years. It was reasonably clean with the open drains cleared and sprayed at regular intervals. There was electricity and there were a few telephones! There were trees bordering many streets. The tallest building on the Island, the "Six Storey" secretariat annex, had just been completed along Broad Street."

He recalled that most of the older buildings lining the streets were family houses built of brick and timber, roofed with corrugated iron sheets and few of these rose above three storeys. These were probably built between 1850 and 1914, the start of the First World War, during the years when Lagos supported an affluent multi ethnic society which could boast of substantial funds invested in the City of London. During that period Lagos became one of the first towns in the world to be lighted by electricity. Public transport was provided by a stream tram, which ran from the center of the Island to the Marina.

"When we arrived, traces of the rails could still be found along the side of the Marina. Independence, by then six years in the future, was already stimulating modest developments financed by cautious investors, both Nigerian and International as well as administrative buildings. Government was beginning to construct schools and buildings such as the Museum and Radio Nigeria. At that time the Lagos Town Council By Laws did not permit the construction of any building much above four floors due to poor ground conditions.

"However with increasing land values and the application of improved foundation technology new By Laws were written and issued by the Town Council, which enabled the construction of taller buildings. The height was still restricted by regulations governing the site coverage and density imposed by the Lagos Executive Development Board. Relaxation of these rules has led to the very tall structures subsequently built," he recalled

The construction of tall buildings has changed the character of Lagos Island. In demonstration of this, Gillian also took some photographs of Lagos 20 years ago close to the original viewpoints. The photographs were printed in small sizes and mounted alongside some of the main pictures to depict the change in the environment.

Gillian explained that the photographs taken 20 years ago give some idea of what happened in the first 23 years of Independence. "Taking the later pictures required us to assume a more professional aspect to avoid a 'Citizens arrest'. We plan to take the series again in April 2004 and wonder if we will need police protection!"

Gillian's lens would not miss recording Brazilian influences on property development in old Lagos some of which still stand till today. Aptly titled the Brazilian Quarters, buildings shown in this series are associated with the construction skills brought by Brazilian repatriates in the last century. The buildings bear copious features of Brazilian architectural heritage with its columns and arches. The expansive Tokunbo Street of the 1950s Lagos has a high concentration of Brazilian-styled houses. It was for this that the street was known as the heart of the Brazilian Quarters in those days. One of the enduring legacy of the Brazilian influence is the Tapa Monument on Oshodi Street. The monument remains till date.

Also among Brazilian legacies are: the Central Mosque on Nnamdi Azikiwe Street designed by Senhor Joao da Costa in 1892, Shitta Mosque on Martins Street also by Joao da Costa in 1894 among others.

What Gillian has done with her photographs was to rekindle the struggle to save Lagos from the grips of anarchic urbanisation. According to John Godwin, with hindsight, more photographs should have been taken in 1954 to put on record the many fine buildings which have subsequently been demolished, often to be replaced by unmemorable developments.

Gillian reiterated that her decision to take photographs of old Lagos was a personal thing. "I have been enthralled by where I live and I wanted to share the experience with my people back home in the United Kingdom. I started taking interest in photography from my childhood years. My father, Hopwood, was a very keen photographer. In fact I made money from photography while learning in England."

Her professional background is also a motivating factor. "I ask people to get out of my [way] when I take the buildings. Because they are historical buildings, they are part of our heritage. And if you kill the buildings/heritage, you will have nothing to bequeath to future generation. That's why one feels so bad that Lagos Island has been allowed to deteriorated so badly. Something has got to be done, especially about crime on Lagos Island."

The photographs were first shown at the launching of LEGACY in 1997 and a selection was shown again at the Diamond Jubilee of the Island Club in November last year.

The photographer, Gillian Hopwood, is the Erelu Baakole of Owu land and the president of the Nigeria-Britain Association. She is the first female fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Architects and a past president of the Sorptimist International of Nigeria.