The construction of the mosque started in 1891 and was financed by Mohammed Shitta Bey, a businessman and philanthropist, son of Sierra Leone-born parents of Yoruba descent. A Brazilian architect João Baptista da Costa oversaw the construction which was done with tile-work depicting the Afro-Brazilian architecture.[3] The Shitta-Bey Mosque launched on July 4, 1894, at a ceremony presided over by Governor of Lagos, Sir Gilbert Carter. Others in attendance included Oba Oyekan I, Edward Wilmot Blyden, Abdullah Quilliam (who represented Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire), and prominent Lagosian Christians such as James Pinson Labulo Davies, John Otunba Payne, and Richard Beale Blaize as well as foreign representatives[2].