Bower’s Tower can be seen at the top of Oke-Are in Ibadan. It is an historic monument put up to honour Captain Robert Lister Bower in 1936 – he was the first British Resident in Ibadan, and appointed by the British government to administer the ancient city, which he did between 1893 and 1897.The Bower’s Tower was designed by Taffy Jones, the engineer that designed Mapo Hall.
The tower is 60 feet high and 11 feet square with two entrances and a spiral staircase that leads to the top of the tower. From the summit of the tower, you can see the Ibadan roundabout sprawling before you and appreciate the pre-historicity of the town. The Bower Tower is someplace to check out if you happen to be in Ibadan.
Bower’s Tower is located on the summit of Oke-Are, the highest hill in Ibadan, from which one enjoys a commanding view of the city. Oke-Are (“The Army Chief’s Hill”) is the site central to Igbo-Agala (Agala Forest) in Sapati Area.
The monument was erected in 1836 as a memorial to Captain Robert Lister Bower, the first British resident in Ibadan and the Travelling Commissioner for the interior of Yoruba land (as the stiffly officious British termed his office), Southwestern Nigeria between 1893 and 1897.
