NIA LAGOS STATE CHAPTER

erged from a modest beginning of an 8-member Study Group of Architects which was formed in 1958 to carry out the detailed planning for the establishment of the Institute. The fact that Lagos was for many years the capital of Nigeria attracted a lot of commercial activities and the Federal and State Government had huge investments in infrastructure in the city. It is no surprise therefore that a very large percentage of Members of the Institute both in Government Services and the Private Sector operated in Lagos and this accounted for the chapter being the most vibrant with the largest concentrations of Architects in Lagos. Officers of the Institute were predominantly those who practiced from Lagos and in course of time it became expedient to create State Chapters from which Lagos State Chapter benefited in size and quality. Since the inauguration of the NIA in 1960 and the creation of Lagos State in 1967, the Lagos State Chapter had functioned in the shadow of the main body. With increase in membership and the creation of States, it became expedient to decentralize the activities of the main body and thus in 1983, Dr. Wale Odeleye, then 2nd Vice president of the Institute was mandated by Council to assist in reviving the Lagos State Chapter. He became the Co-chairman assisted by his many younger colleagues who served in the executive at its maiden meeting venue at Art’s Place, Alagomeji, Yaba. Attendance by Architects who were resident in Lagos was usually high and programmes were designed to benefit members professionally and socially.