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  "path": "/2026/04/16/outrage-colonial-painting-celebrates-invasion-displayed-british-embassy-27983153/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-16T05:00:00.000Z",
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  "textContent": "‘British Men of War Attacked by the King of Lagos’, by James George Philp, displays the Royal Navy’s attack on Lagos (Picture: Government Art Col)\n\nThe Foreign Office has been branded ‘disgusting’ for installing an artwork at the British embassy in Nigeria that ‘celebrates’ the country’s invasion.\n\nThe British Deputy High Commission in Lagos installed a painting of a Royal Navy attack on the port city in 1851 which toppled the region’s king, **Metro** can reveal.\n\nOfficials took the decision after Labour came to power in July 2024, but are now facing calls to take it down or risk undermining diplomatic relations.\n\nBritish-Nigerian historians and activists said the artwork gives the impression the government is ‘celebrating’ colonisation and regime change, but the Foreign Office insists it is there to ‘prompt reflection’.\n\nThe painting at the centre of the furious row is ‘British Men of War Attacked by the King of Lagos’, by James George Philp.\n\n##  Sign up for all of the latest stories\n\nStart your day informed with Metro's **News Updates** newsletter or get **Breaking News** alerts the moment it happens.\n\nOfficials put up the painting some time after Labour won the 2024 general election\n\nIt depicts the Reduction of Lagos in 1851, when the Royal Navy stormed the city, deposed King Kosoko and replaced him with their ally Akitoye.\n\nHistorians have argued the invasion was to stop Kosoko’s involvement in the slave trade, and to protect British economic and political self-interest.\n\nThe attack is widely seen as the first step before full British colonisation of Nigeria in 1861.\n\nHakim Adi, award-winning British-Nigerian historian, said the Foreign Office should be ‘ashamed’ for putting up an artwork that ‘celebrates invasion and regime change at a time when the world needs to condemn such crimes’.\n\nThe professor and African affairs scholar told **Metro** : ‘The fact that it apparently celebrates the crimes of the past speaks volumes and perhaps provides some indication of its continuing attitude towards Nigeria and Nigerians.’\n\nProfessor Kehinde Andrews, co-chair of the Black Studies Association, said it was ‘frankly disgusting but not altogether surprising’ that the Foreign Office would display the picture.\n\nHe added that it showed a ‘lack of understanding of the horrors of empire’.\n\nAcademic and campaigner Toyin Agbetu said it was ‘deeply distasteful’ that officials chose to display an image that ‘celebrates colonial violence against Nigeria’.\n\nAward-winning historian Professor Hakim Adi said the artwork ‘celebrates invasion’\n\nThe UCL lecturer called on the government to remove the painting.\n\nHe added: ‘While the UK is free to display its bad taste on embassy walls, this directly contradicts any stated commitment to building positive, non-racist relationships with African nations that value the so-called Commonwealth.’\n\nKim Johnson MP said the FCDO should reconsider their ‘deeply concerning’ choice to install the artwork.\n\nShe said: ‘We need transparency about who authorised this and why such a choice was made.’\n\nThe UK-based African Foundation for Development (AFFORD) agreed with fears that the art could upset vital political ties between Britain and Nigeria.\n\nOnyekachi Wambu, who coordinates AFFORD’s Return of the Icons Programme, said: ‘At a time when Britain has invested considerable effort in strengthening ties, it seems contradictory, even provocative, to display artwork that commemorates a violent episode widely understood as the foundation of colonial domination.’\n\nBritain installed Akitoye into power after bombarding Lagos and established a ‘quasi-protectorate’ over the region, before annexing it totally as a colony in 1861.\n\nThe Foreign Office told **Metro** they hosted a descendant of the Kosoko family after installing James George Philp’s painting at their site.\n\nThe motives for the initial British invasion in 1851 that deposed the king has been contested by scholars.\n\nThe official explanation at the time was that the British wanted to replace the pro-slave trading king with his rival, who promised to abolish the abhorrent practice.\n\nThe Destruction of Lagos, on the west coast of Africa, by the British squadron in 1851 paved the way for British colonialism\n\nHowever historians – particularly Nigerian scholars – have more recently challenged that view.\n\nJ.F.A. Ajayi, one of Nigeria’s most famous historians, argued the British intervened to gain economic control over the region.\n\nOne Nigerian museum, the Centre for Memories, told **Metro** that the Reduction of Lagos was ‘not a neutral or benign episode in Nigerian history’.\n\nThe museum’s executive director Iheanyi Igboko added: ‘It represents a moment of violent intervention, political disruption, and the beginning of a trajectory that culminated in colonial rule.\n\n‘To present such an image, particularly within an official diplomatic space, without clear contextualisation risks appearing as a celebration, or at best, an uncritical memorialisation, of imperial force.’\n\nHowever Nigerian historical preservation group Legacy said it is ‘understandable that a diplomatic mission would seek to acknowledge the history of its past citizens and the naval tenacity displayed during that era.’\n\nThey continued: ‘The painting captures the sheer scale of the Royal Navy’s presence a force that was, at the time, instrumental in the difficult and protracted campaign to suppress the transatlantic slave trade along the West African coast.’\n\n‘We do not necessarily view the display as a “celebration” of forced regime change, but rather as a provocative reminder of the forces that shaped modern Lagos.’\n\nSince Labour won the 2024 general election, more than 20 paintings have been installed in the Deputy British High Commission in Lagos. Britain’s High Commission is in Nigeria’s capital of Abuja.\n\nThe inclusion of ‘Hibiscus and the Rose’ by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare was welcomed by campaigners (Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)\n\nMost of these have highlighted modern works by British-Nigerian artists.\n\nThese include Yinka Shonibare’s The Hibiscus and the Rose and Joy Labinjo’s Wash Day.\n\nOther paintings are pictuersque British landscapes, such as Norman Stevens’ Lower Wessex Lane.\n\nDr. Adebunmi Adeola Akinbo, Publicity Officer at Legacy, said they were ‘ncouraged to see the inclusion of contemporary voices like Yinka Shonibare and Joy Labinjo’.\n\nThey added: ‘Shonibare, in particular, is a master at deconstructing colonial identity, and his presence alongside the Philp painting creates a silent, necessary dialogue between the past and the present.’\n\nSix artworks and sculptures have also been removed from the Lagos Deputy High Commission.\n\nThese include pieces by legendary Nigerian artists Ben Enwonwu and Justus Akeredolu, which are both on display at the Tate Modern.\n\nThe placement of colonial-era photographs has given officials a headache before.\n\nBuckingham Palace was critcised in March after King Charles posed with Caribbean officials at a London reception ‌beneath a portrait of George IV, who profited from slavery.\n\nA FCDO Spokesperson said**:** ‘The British High Commission residence in Lagos displays a wide range of modern and historical Nigerian art that we actively use to prompt reflection, including on the complexity of our shared history.\n\n‘As part of this commitment, we hosted a descendant of the Kosoko family and leading Nigerian historians at the residence to discuss the piece by James George Philp and the events depicted.’\n\n******Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.******\n\n**For more stories like this,** check our news page.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "Outrage over colonial painting that ‘celebrates invasion’ displayed at British Embassy"
}