Today in Nigeria, traditional houses and buildings have vanished and been replaced with modern style buildings. Before the modern days, houses were built to meet social, cultural and religious needs. The building materials consisted of mud, wood, stone, palm, grass and other vegetable materials.  During the European colonization of Africa, the country was knows as the “Dark Continent” which meant a place with no culture and civilization. When the Europeans traveled to Africa, they were surprise to see the architecture of Africa especially in cities like Benin and the Asante Capital of Kumasi. The cities were very clean and had great paved roads. They were also divided into palaces, houses and apartments that were very beautiful. The architecture in Nigeria changed drastically over years and now it is much better. Here are pictures of what the houses use to look like back then compared to now.

Modern

Traditional