Sindhis in Nigeria

Bhagwan Mahtani	Nari Kriplani	Hathiramani	Suresh Chellaram

Nigeria, with a population of 120 million is the most populous country on the African continent. Nigeria has rich natural resources. High quality oil exports bring the much-needed foreign exchange.

There are about 25,000 Indians in Nigeria, although some estimates put the number as high as 40,000. Most of the Indians are in the area of Lagos.

Indian businessmen took the sea route to reach Nigeria during the early part of the 20th Century. British ships had regular saillings from London to Nigeria stopping enroute at Freetown, Sierra Leone and Accra, Ghana reaching Lagos finally. This is how Indian shopkeepers, particularly from the Sindhi community opened shops in Sierra Leone which was the first stop for ships. Later, shops were opened in accra and Kumasi in Ghana. Nigeria was the final stop; therefore Sindhi traders reached Lagos only in 1919. A representative of the J.T. Chanrai Group, Named after the brothers Jhamatmal & Thakurdas, the founders of the group, reached Lagos from Sierra Leone. He opened the first shop followed by many outlets in lbadan, Onisha and port Harcourt. The Chellarams opened their first shop six years later in 1925. These two groups were the forerunners of many who followed later. Most of the early settlers marketed textiles and handloom products imported form Madras via Liverpool in England. Later they acquired agencies for well-known brands from Europe and the Far East. Slowly the traders moved into wholesale trade followed by supermarkets, department stores etc.

The lifeline of the Indian community in Nigeria is the ICA Indian Cultural Association. The Association organises and arranges all social and cultural events for the community. All major festivals from all regions of India are celebrated with great enthusiasm. The Association from their headquarters located at lllupeju in Lagos has become a hub of daily activities.

The Association has a multi-purpose compound in lllupeju in the midst of a small Indian colony where most of the professionals are residents. The premises include a Club House serving drinks and snacks throughout the day. The Association was formed nearly 30 years ago. Several community leaders who are patrons of the association have played a key role in giving shape to the organisation. Some of the patrons are: Chief H. B. Chanrai, Nari P Kirpalani, Bhagwan Mahtani, Chief Ram Chatlani, Azad Shivdasani, Hiro Makhijani, Dasi Budhrani and Suresh Chellaram. The long list of life members who have supported the association include Laju Chanrai, T.M. Menon, S.V. Naik, Raj Khurana, Lalit Malhotra, Kishin Vaswani, Ashok Dani, A. Sivaram and many others.

The Geeta Dham at Victoria Island is mainly managed by Sindhi ladies living in Victoria Island. The main activities in the temple are Sai Baba bhajans on every Sunday, Full Moon, Guru Purab, Janamashtmi functions etc. The temple is normally closed rest of the days.