Bower’s Tower: Panoramic view of Ibadan view

[Mirror]

Bursting out of the earth and towering well above 60 feet is a structure which purple colour has faded right inside the heart of Igbo Agala in Ibadan, Oyo State capital is the Bower's Tower, a monument erected in honour of Captain Ross l. Bower first resident and travelling commissioner of interior Yorubaland (1893-1897). The tower has two major qualities which makes it unique in this part of the world: its height and location.

A tall building built on a hill. Ascending the 48 steps of the staircase will bring you to the apex of the tower where you can even have a more panoramic view of the largest city south of the Sahara. Oke Are, on which the tower is erected, on itself, offers a panorama of the city. Hence, on all sides a gust at the tower is offered a panorama of JP Clark's Ibadan's broken China scattered among seven hills.

A mini amphitheatre at the foot of the tower spreads out to circular structures where guests sit, relax and momentarily forget the hustle bustle of the city below. A building which performs the twin role of a reception and canteen is at the back of the tower if one comes in through the south gate and there is a mini-bar to its right.

There, up inside the tower, the guest is offered a powerful telescope, at an additional fee of course, to have an unimaginable view of the golden roofs of areas as far flung as Elekuro, Orita Aperin, Aremo, Molete, the University College Hospital, Dugbe and closer ones like Oke Padi, Ogunpa, Bere, Mapo and others. Wait a minute! The writer must have been caught up in time.

The current Bower's Tower is practically the exact opposite of the above description. Indeed, it is under lock and key looking forlorn, desolate and broken. Only the strong spirit of the tower itself appears unbroken though the entrance to its 48 steps is also under lock. The structures in the enclosure are all broken and dilapidated.

The circular structures where guests ease the pressure off their feet after the long windy climb up the tower are now dangerous to enter not to even think of occupying. All over are overgrown shrubs and weeds.

The agile government official who now tends the place had to combine being a gardener with his work in order to feel a little bit save from reptiles and other dangerous animals that have turned the place into a home. A couple of days before the reporter's visit to the once-upon-a-time edifying structure, neighbours disclosed, the official killed a long snake. Captain Bower must have been an English gentleman and officer.

His white uniform, high doom colonial hat and general appearance must have been spit and polish. Sadly, this cannot be said of the monument named after him in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State and the headquarters of the Yoruba army at the zenith of the glory of the Oyo Empire.

Ibadan, it was where the captain administered the whole of Yorubaland during his active days in the service of His Majesty. And Ibadan it is now where a monument – the Bower's Tower is, to pay everlasting respect to the seat of power of the gallant captain.

A visitor to the tower which stands in commemoration of Captain Bower's seat of power can navigate the place via no fewer than three places: Oke Sapati via Beere, Yemetu, Agbadagbudu, Oniyanrin.

They all lead to Igbo Agala (Forest of Agala) from where Bower administered the land. As soon as somebody branches off towards Agala from Oke Are, what immediately comes to their notice is the condition of the road. It is barely passable. A wise visitor will do well by parking his vehicle and making the remaining part of the journey on foot.

The road stretches more than 200 metres and suddenly bursts into a tarred and spacious one which seems to have appeared out of nowhere. A similar occurrence will be witnessed on other outlets to the facility But through the lonely road that leads to the tower, one thing is available: worship centres. Religious centres of both Christians and Muslims jostle for space and recognition.

The wide expanse of land that used to be feared and most times avoided is now a congregation of worship centres. With different names, these Mountains (ori oke), Compounds (agbala) and camps (ago) are in a rough count not fewer than 100. Decorating their arenas are also different insignia, statutes and signboards. Different colours of religious and prayer garbs are also contesting amongst themselves.

The tower has about 48 spiral staircases, designed by one Taffy Jones in the early 30s. It was unveiled on 15 December, 1936 by Sir Robert Tower. Etched on one side of the tower are: "BOWER's TOWER ERECTED DEC. 1936 IN HONOUR OF CAPTAIN ROSS L. BOWER 1ST RESIDENT AND TRAVELLING COMMISSIONER OF INTERIOR YORUBALAND (1893-1897).

However, the words can only be read if the gates are flung open once more after the renovation and remodelling of the place which the chairman of the Oyo State Tourism Board, Benedict Kayode Ogunwusi said were some of the reasons the facility was put under lock and key.

He explained that: "The tenant running the place has defaulted for three years now. And the government has decided that he should be ejected from the tourist site. And that is exactly what we have done.

We have already checked him out and the government is planning to renovate and remodel the site to an international standard. And that is why it is under lock and key now. Asked if the government already have a blue print of the new Bower's Tower, Ogunwusi replied in the affirmative. "Yes.

Someone has come. He is going to do the beautification of the whole place. We are going to remodel the tower. There is going to be light which will be seen throughout Ibadan," he stated adding that, "the government is on Agodi Gardens now. It is after its completion that we would move to the Bower's Tower."

But as the reporter wandered from the desolate state which has become of the Bower's Tower, he could not help being drawn into a religious pilgrimage of a sort as he sought to quench his eschatological thirst among the terrestrials garbed in apparels of different colours and designs professing to be in commune with the celestial.

National Mirror