The first storey building in Nigeria located in Badagry, Lagos State, recorded 13,609 visitors in 2018, Hodonu Daniel, the officer in charge of the building, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday.

Mr Daniel said the number of tourists that visited the 172-year-old structure was higher than the 9,009 recorded in 2017.

NAN reports that the foundation of the building was laid in 1842 and was completed in 1845.

“We recorded more tourists toward the end of the year when there were different festivals organised by people and the Local Government Authority attracted tourists to the site.

“Around August, we celebrated Coconut festival and many tourists that came for the event visited the site. Also during Diaspora festival, many foreigners came to the site.

“These were just the reasons why the site recorded high number of tourists in 2018.

“I’m sure that the patronage would be higher this year if the Federal Government will complete the reconstruction of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway which is discouraging tourists from visiting the site.

“The major challenge that we face is the deplorable state of the road, as this discourages tourists from coming to the various historic sites in the city,’’ Daniel said.

He reiterated the call on the state government and private companies to assist in giving the structure a facelift.

According to him, only the Anglican Church is carrying out the task for now.

(NAN)