Candido Joao Da Rocha

Candido Joao Da Rocha ( 1860 - March 11, 1959) was a Nigerian businessman, landowner and creditor who owned Water House on Kakawa Street, Lagos Island, Lagos, and was the proprietor of the now defunct Bonanza Hotel in Lagos. 

Da Rocha, a native of Ilesha, was born to the family of Joao Esan Da Rocha, a former slave; his father was 10 years old when he was captured as a slave in about 1840 and Candido was born in the Bahia region of Brazil.

Candido is the brother of Moses Da Rocha, one of the earliest Western-trained Nigerian doctors. 

He lived in Water House on Kakawa Street, Lagos, a house built by his father. The home was commemorated in literature by a novel, The Water House, written by Antonio Olinto. 

The house had a borehole and the first water fountain in Lagos Island; water was sold from his house to consumers. 

Some of his business interests included a restaurant called The Restaurant Da Rocha and Sierra Leone Deep Sea Fishing Industries Ltd. He collaborated with Lagos businessmen J. H. Doherty and Sedu Williams on a money lending business established under the name of the Lagos Native Bank. 

He was a founding member of the Lagos auxiliary to the Anti Slavery and Aborigines Right Society which was headed by James Johnson and had Samuel Pearse and Sapara Williams as members.

He was a rich man who would, from the balcony of his one-storey building, throw down coins to children who would, in a tangle of bodies and flapping hands, struggle for them. So, I remembered vividly why my parents denies being “a da Rocha” anytime I ask for monies I don’t literally need as a child.

His mother was Angelica Josephina da Rocha. His father returned to
Lagos, Nigeria in the 1870’s where he built his wealth and passed it to his son, Candido.

Due to his wealth, his friend, Herbert Macaulay, nominated him as a candidate in one of the elections of the time. And when da Rocha met the electorate, he told them: “I am Candido da Rocha, your candidate into the House. Vote for me if you like. And if you don’t, all well and good.”

That statement ended his sojourn in politics as he lost the elections with
acquiring just 20 votes.

Indeed, da Rocha was a very modest and generous capitalist.

During the Second World War (1939 - 1945), when the authorities of Kings College were looking for a place to relocate the students in the boarding house – among whom were Tiamiyu Bello-Osagie, who would
become one of Nigeria’s most celebrated gynaecologists; Adenekan Ademola, son of Nigeria’s first indigenous Chief Justice, Adetokunbo Ademola; Dapo Aderemi, son of Sir Adesoji Aderemi, the legendary Onni of Ile-Ife – da Rocha volunteered his Bonanza Hotel on Customs Street, Lagos, and did not collect a dime for the period it was used.

Even after the war, when government asked influential Nigerians to contribute to the rehabilitations fund, he made substantial donations and he instructed that the amount should not be disclosed to the public.

Despite his wealth and political clout, no street in Lagos is named after him.

Candido da Rocha died in 1959 and his remains lies at the Ikoyi Cemetery.

Among his children were Alexander Da Rocha, Adenike Afodu, Angelica Folashade Thomas and Louissa Turton.