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Mary Nnah

Following the unveiling of the monumental talking drum above Cocoa House, the historic Ibadan landmark is drawing renewed public attention — with visitors now flocking to pose with the installation.

Long recognised as one of Ibadan’s most important architectural and cultural landmarks, Cocoa House has taken on new cultural relevance since Goldberg mounted the giant talking drum above the building.

In recent weeks, content creators and visitors have begun experimenting with forced-perspective photographs around the building, positioning their hands against the skyline to create the illusion of holding or touching the giant drum from street level.

The photographs are simple, but they are creating a distinctive new way of interacting with one of Ibadan’s most recognisable structures and turning the site into a photo destination.

Interest around the installation has been amplified by visits from prominent storytellers including Tayo Aina, whose content around Cocoa House helped extend the conversation beyond the physical landmark and onto social media, introducing the installation to wider audiences.

For decades, Cocoa House has occupied a prominent place in the city’s skyline and history. Installed under Goldberg’s Our Beat. Our Gold. platform, the talking drum was conceived as a celebration of Nigerian culture and the enduring place of the instrument in Yoruba heritage.

The installation was designed to function beyond its scale. It sounds every hour and lights up at night, giving the structure a visible and audible presence across different moments of the day.

What is now emerging around it, however, is being shaped by the public.

Through photography, video and social media, visitors are interpreting the installation in their own way, turning the drum into a recognisable visual feature within their experience of the city.

It signals an interesting evolution for Cocoa House: from historic landmark to cultural canvas, and increasingly, to a place where a new generation is creating its own memories and visual language around Ibadan.

As more visitors discover the landmark and experiment with the now-familiar perspective shots, the images are becoming one of the most recognisable ways of documenting a visit to Cocoa House.

For Goldberg, it is also a sign that the talking drum is moving beyond installation into participation, with people beginning to make the landmark part of their own stories.