Cocoa House, Ibadan: Enduring testament of an unrivalled past, By Femi Kehinde

It could be safely concluded that the NIPC was formed to continue from where the National Bank stopped, as the financial pillar of the Action Group. Between May 1959 and May 1962, the NIPC had given the Action Group over £4,000,000. The company was often, directly or indirectly, involved with the AG through the interlocking relationship of its directors. The company had hardly been incorporated when it started to borrow money from the marketing board.

Alfred Rawane was, no doubt, one of the ablest and most astute businessmen that Nigeria could boast about during that period. Chief Awolowo picked the best and ablest men for the task of the returns on their investments in the Western Region, and his choices were proved right.

The rate of growth of the Western Region before the crisis and political dispersal had been phenomenal. The Western Region government established the first television station in Africa on October 31, 1959. This was enhanced by a legislative enactment that removed broadcasting from the exclusive list to the concurrent list in the constitution of the period. Western Nigeria Television then operated in partnership with Overseas rediffusion, U.K.

At the official commissioning of the building, Chief Bola Ige said he would have been the Master of Ceremony if he were not occupying the office of governor of Oyo State. Femi Johnson was a prominent member of the Ibadan literary and drama world, through his membership of the Ibadan Players of the dawn group, with others like Christopher Kolade, Segun Olusola, Yemi Lijadu, Sola Rhodes, Wole Soyinka, Wale Ogunyemi and the likes.

On January 9, 1985, the 26-storey Cocoa House suffered a mishap, with the entire building being gutted by fire. It temporarily lost its beauty and elegance to the inferno. The fire was said to have consumed everything in the building because the fire fighters in Ibadan did not have the requisite equipment or skills to put out a raging inferno in a skyscrapper. Unfortunately, some fire fighters, caught in the inferno, were consumed by it.

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