Candido Da Rocha

Chief Candido João Da Rocha (October 3, 1860 – March 11, 1959)[1][2][3] was a Nigerian businessman, landowner and creditor. Da Rocha exemplified the transition from enslavement to becoming amongst the elite founders of modern Lagosian commerce and infrastructure. He owned Water House on Kakawa Street, Lagos Island, Lagos, and was the proprietor of the now defunct Bonanza Hotel in Lagos. He held the chieftaincy title of the Lodifi of Ilesa.

Early Life & Education

Da Rocha, an ethnic Ijesha, was born to the family of Joao Esan Da Rocha, a former Brazilian slave;[4] his father was 10 years old when he was captured as a slave in about 1840 and Candido was born in the Bahia region of Brazil.[5]

Candido attended CMS Grammar School, Lagos where he was peers with Isaac Oluwole and Herbert Macaulay. [6] Candido is the brother of Moses Da Rocha, one of the earliest Western-trained Nigerian doctors.

Water Infrastructure

Candido da Rocha is renowned as the "first water millionaire”. He inherited his father’s house and launched a public water distribution system, supplying clean water in the 1920s, which served Lagos Island and surrounding areas. This was executed at his late Father’s house, known as the Water House on Kakawa Street. It was the first in Lagos to have a private borehole and a functioning water fountain, supplying the community and colonial officials.[7]

Business & Finance

Widely known as the 'Merchant Princes of Amaro', in addition to his ventures in water, Da Rocha engaged in moneylending, gold trading sometimes earning profits as high as 100% and property ownership. Thus, solidifying his reputation as one of Nigeria’s earliest recognised millionaires.[8]

In 1907, Da Rocha collaborated with Lagos businessmen J. H. Doherty and Seidu Williams on a money lending business established under the name of the Lagos Native Bank.[9] A pioneering effort to create an indigenous bank to compete with foreign banks, he also later ran the Industrial and Commercial Bank, providing credit to local individuals. Despite their brief existence, these banks played an important monopoly in challenging the dominance of foreign banking institutions during the colonial period.

Some of his business interests included a restaurant called The Restaurant Da Rocha[10] and Sierra Leone Deep Sea Fishing Industries Ltd. He was a founding member of the Lagos auxiliary to the Anti Slavery and Aborigines Right Society which was headed by James Johnson and had Samuel Pearse, Hon. Justice Dahunsi Olugbemi Coker and Sapara Williams as members.[11] Due to his adoration of horse racing, he built the Lagos Racing Club in 1891, where he raced with his friends such as J.H. Doherty.[12]

The Water House

See also: Water House and Sobrado architecture

The Water House is a Brazilian baroque style house on Kakawa Street built in for Joao Esan Da Rocha. Known for the water-well dug in the backyard, the home was only one floor. After his father's passing, Candido Joao Da Rocha redesigned the house and implemented a sobrado second-story style. It is known as one of the prominent Nigerian-Brazilian architectures in Lagos, which has led the Nigerian Government to preserve and keep it listed.[13][14] The home was commemorated in literature by a novel, The Water House, written by Antonio Olinto.

  • Brazilian Baroque Architecture (Sobrado)

Death, Legacy and Descendants

Da Rocha died in 1959[6] and is buried at Ikoyi Cemetery.[3]

Among his children were Alexander Da Rocha, Adenike Afodu, Angelica Folashade Thomas and Louissa Turton.[15] His grandchildren included the educationist Abimbola Omololu-Mulele.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Da Rocha: Inside the home of Nigeria's first millionaire", www.africareporters.com.
  2. ^ K. K. Prah (2009). Back to Africa: Afro-Brazilian returnees and their communities (Issue 69, Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society Cape Town). CASAS. ISBN 978-1-920-4474-58.
  3. ^ a b Elegbeleye, Sam Olusegun. "All Hail Candido Da Rocha". The Nigeria Nostalgia Project 1960-1980. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  4. ^ JAMES BROOKE (March 26, 1987). "IN NIGERIA, TOUCHES OF BRAZILIAN STYLE". The New York Times. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  5. ^ Mann, K. (2007). Slavery and the birth of an African city: Lagos, 1760-1900. Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Press. P. 126
  6. ^ a b "A Chronicle of the Da Rocha Clan By Prof (Sir) J.T. da Rocha-Afodu, KSS, KSM". Catholic Herald Nigeria. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  7. ^ "Preservation". AMANDA IHEME. Retrieved 2026-04-05.
  8. ^ Falola, Toyin (2017). The Yoruba in Brazil, Brazilians in Yorubaland [The Yoruba in Brazil, Brazilians in Yorubaland]. Carolina Academic Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-1531007706.
  9. ^ "Meet Nigeria's first millionaire: Candido Da Rocha – CBS PLC Blog". Retrieved 2026-04-05.
  10. ^ Lagos Weekly Record (1897/10/30). Accessed from NewsBank/Readex, Database: World Newspaper Archive
  11. ^ Nigerian Chronicle. (1910/09/02). The Nigerian Chronicle, 'News of the Week', P.2. Accessed from (NewsBank/Readex, Database: World Newspaper Archive
  12. ^ The Yoruba in Brazil, Brazilians in Yorubaland [The Yoruba in Brazil, Brazilians in Yorubaland]. 2017. p. 85.
  13. ^ Falola, Toyin (2017). The Yoruba in Brazil, Brazilians in Yorubaland. Carolina Academic Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-1611635911.
  14. ^ Brooke, James (1987-03-26). "IN NIGERIA, TOUCHES OF BRAZILIAN STYLE". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-04-05.
  15. ^ "Supreme Court of Nigeria - Princess Legal World Law Books in Lagos". princesslegalworld.com. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  16. ^ Ominira-Bluejack, 'Shèun (December 31, 2024). "Of Old Renown". africanwriter.com. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
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