Lagos Lodge No. 1171: Nigeria’s First Freemason Lodge under the English Constitution

The image depicts the Lagos Lodge No. 1171, the first Masonic lodge established in Nigeria under the English Constitution. Founded in the late 19th century, the lodge played a pioneering role in introducing Freemasonry to West Africa, marking the beginning of an enduring fraternal and social institution in the region.

The lodge’s activities included regular meetings that brought together prominent colonial administrators, merchants, and educated Africans. One of the recorded gatherings took place on October 4, 1888, at the Freemasons’ Hall on Bamgbose Street, Lagos—a venue that became the symbolic center of Masonic activity in the city. These meetings reflected the early organization and ritual structure of English Freemasonry, adapted to a Nigerian setting.

The image likely captures a historic moment from the lodge’s formative years, illustrating both the architectural character of the Freemasons’ Hall and the social culture of Lagos’s elite during the colonial period. The building and its gatherings represented not only the social influence of the Masonic order but also the participation of early Nigerian professionals in global networks of fraternity, philanthropy, and civic development.

Lagos Lodge No. 1171 holds a unique place in Nigeria’s social and colonial history. As the earliest lodge under the English Constitution, it became the foundation from which later Masonic lodges across the country—under both English and Scottish constitutions—would emerge.

Source

History of Freemasonry in Nigeria – Grand Lodge of Nigeria (GLN), official records.

“Freemasonry in Nigeria,” The Square Magazine (UK Masonic publication, 2022).