Department stores were a major feature of Nigerian city life in the 1970s and early 1980s. They were the centre of the urban child’s dreams, the place where the upwardly mobile adult shopped. They were symbols of an age of optimism, spurred by an oil boom and a resultant prosperity that helped fill cinemas and populate shopping centres.
One of the big department store chains was the Leventis stores. It, along with Kingsway and UTC, formed the dominant names in the retail sector. These stores were stuffed with some of the best consumer goods from beyond the country’s shores and were visited by shoppers and spectators, who feasted their eyes and spent their cash on the attractively displayed merchandise.
The Leventis stores were in fact a part of a larger conglomerate, which at a point in the 1970s was Nigeria’s second biggest employer of labour. The stores have since ceased to exist, but the company remains. And it is still one of the country’s commercial giants, with a considerable presence in the real estate, food, vehicle manufacturing, hospitality and industrial goods industries.
The company, AG Leventis, actually bears the name of its founder, Anastasios George Leventis, whose life and business was tightly woven into the histories of late colonial and early post-colonial West Africa. But he wasn’t just a regular colonialist seeking to exploit the continent’s wealth; he was an eastern Mediterranean entrepreneur who had strong sympathies for independence movements in Africa, as well as his home country, Cyprus.
Leventis was born in Cyprus in 1902 and spent his early life there. After living a while in France, he left Europe in search of new job opportunities. His voyage took him to Nigeria, where he started off with working at two Manchester-based Anglo-Greek firms. The second of these was in Abeokuta; there, he built many of his Nigerian friendships and connections.
Despite the firm’s merger with the bigger G.B Ollivant, Leventis stayed on and came through the ranks to become its general manager in Ghana. But when G.B Ollivant was bought by the United Africa Company (UAC), he left to start his own business. A.G Leventis and Company was set up in Ghana in 1937, as a cotton trading enterprise. By the early 1940s, it had a branch in Nigeria.
The move to Nigeria was an immense success. A.G. Leventis changed its focus within a few years of opening in the country, diversifying into manufacturing and construction. It benefited from the size of the Nigerian market and grew to become one of West Africa’s largest conglomerates.
One of the firm’s frequently cited accomplishments was the construction of the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos, which the government commissioned it to build; it housed the guests for Nigeria’s independence celebrations in 1960. Hindsight lets us look at this as a nod to its founder’s support for the self-determination movements in Ghana, Nigeria, and Cyprus.
Many Nigerians did recognize his sympathy for the national cause. He was conferred with a chieftaincy title by the Alake of Egbaland, whose seat of power was Abeokuta.
By the time of his death in 1978, Leventis’ company had become a household name in Nigeria. But his legacy hasn’t just survived through his business. It also continues through the work of the Leventis Foundation, which promotes education, agriculture and conservation in West Africa.
Feature image: agleventis.com
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