This is a research work aimed at educating Nigerias on the long road the christian faith has taken over the year to reach us today.
From the first African bishop, to the first African church until we have gotten to were we have prolifiration of african churches.

"i will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail."


CC: MOD and lalasticlala

Crowther, Samuel Ajayi
1808 to 1891
Anglican
Nigeria


First African bishop of the Anglican church; explorer and missionary in southern Nigeria.

He was born in Yorubaland, where he was captured during the civil wars (1821) and sold to Portuguese traders on the coast. The vessel transporting him to America was seized by the British antislavery patrol, and he was released at Freetown in Sierra Leone. There he was educated by the Church Missionary Society (CMS), and was baptized in 1825. Following a brief visit to England he enrolled in the Fourah Bay Institute, and after graduating became a school teacher. He impressed his superiors as intelligent and very devout, and was invited to join the British Niger Expedition (1841). He then went to England where he was ordained (1845). He returned to West Africa as a missionary, serving briefly at Badagry before being posted to Abeokuta in Yorubaland (1846). In 1854 and 1857 he accompanied W. B. BAIKIE's expeditions up the Niger River.

The period was one of grandiose European missionary plans for expansion in West Africa. When it was decided to create a West African diocese with an indigenous African pastorate, Crowther was selected a bishop and was consecrated in 1864. Thoroughly Victorian in his outlook, he was immensely successful in promoting Christianity, missionary education, and capitalistic development throughout the Niger valley.

In the 1880s he began to lose control of his diocese to younger missionaries who questioned the policy of establishing an indigenous African pastorate. He also faced pressure from the European trading community led by Sir George GOLDIE, who wanted to see British missionaries extending British influence. A number of Crowther's agents came under attack for moral turpitude, and he was blamed for poor discipline. Crowther himself had long noted that his agents were untrained, and that he had no means to supervise them. A soft-spoken and retiring individual, he made little effort to counter the charges. He was forced to resign in 1890, dying the next near.

Although Crowther is best remembered for his missionary activities, he also made valuable scholarly contributions in his journals of the Niger expeditions, and his study of the Yoruba language, published in the 1840s and 1850s.


http://www.dacb.org/stories/nigeria/crowther1_samuel.html

These are real dedicated christians who has the burning urge to free humanity from pains and ignorance through a selfless service, not like those we see today scamming gullible men with cheap mind games. Following...

Braide, Garrick Sokari
c. 1880 to 1918
Christ Army Church
Nigeria

First major Nigerian independent prophet.

1.Braide was baptized at Bakana in the Niger Delta Pastorate founded by Samuel A. Crowther. Later in 1915 he led a revival that featured mass baptisms, healing, Sunday observance, and active opposition to traditional religion and to imported articles, especially trade gin. Traditionalist complaints and fear of unrest as being seditious led twice to Braide's being imprisoned. Initial Anglican welcome changed to opposition, but loss of members from the Anglican Church to the movement led to Anglican indigenizing reforms. A variety of "Christ's Army" independent churches honoring Braide arose from the movement and continue in south-east Nigeria.

2.Prophet Garrick Sokari Marian Braide, a prominent healer and prophet, was one of the originators of the African independent church movement. Braide became an Anglican catechist (missionary) in the turbulent years following Bishop Samwel CROWTHER's removal as leader of the Niger Delta Pastorate. Semi-autonomous status was granted to the Nigerian Anglican church in 1892 with Bishop James JOHNSON in authority. Although Johnson operated independently, he never cut ties with the sponsoring Church Missionary Society (CMS).

Braide had a gift for healing, and beginning in 1908, people came to him for cures and prophecies. He was said to be able to predict personal difficulties and to bestow good fortune. He retained the support of Johnson because his healing, although unusual, was not far removed from the experience of the evangelical CMS. This toleration also stemmed in part from Braide's success in getting converts to cast out their fetishes and idols. He challenged traditional priests in a rainmaking contest and then bested them by invoking the Christian God. He spent night vigils in prayer, enforced Sunday observance, and preached peace and reconciliation. He also denounced the use of alcohol so completely that consumption fell dramatically. The loss in excise taxes from the sale of alcohol was so great that when the British moved against him in fear of this growing influence, they listed the decline in revenue as one of their charges.

By 1915, Braide had attracted a following more attached to him than to the Delta ministry or the CMS; his followers were estimated to number more than a million. He was honored as a prophet and began using that title, calling himself Elijah II. Braide had become the focus of a cult. Over two-thirds of the Delta congregation abandoned Bishop Johnson for Braide, and Johnson turned against his protégé. After proscribing the movement for heresy, Johnson asked the British colonial authorities to investigate. They needed little prompting. When Braide was quoted as saying that power was passing from whites to blacks during World War I, the British imprisoned him for sedition. Without him, the last tenuous links to the CMS were severed and a new denomination, the Christ Army Church, was founded by his disciples. It was one of the first independent churches founded in African reaction to foreign domination. Braide died in an accident in 1918, and his movement splintered into a number of factions, some continuing his rigorous Christian morality and others adapting Christianity to African customs

http://www.dacb.org/stories/nigeria/braide2_garrick.html
http://www.dacb.org/stories/nigeria/braide1_garrick.html

Babalola, Joseph Ayo
1904 to 1959
Christ Apostolic Church (Aladura)
Nigeria
Leader of the Nigerian Aladura (the praying people) revival of the mid-twentieth century.

Babalola was born of Yoruba parents at Ilofa, Nigeria, and was brought up as an Anglican. Having left elementary school, he was employed in the Public Works Department as a steam roller operator. In October 1928, while trying to repair his machine, he claimed that Jesus Christ called him to abandon the job and start preaching. He then joined Faith Tabernacle in Lagos, which was related to an American Pentecostal organization. In September 1930 Babalola was credited with raising a dead man to life. From then on, with bell and Yoruba Bible in hand, he toured Yorubaland and eastern Nigeria, preaching about repentance, and renunciation of idolatry, the importance of prayer and fasting, and the power of God to heal sickness. In 1930 Faith Tabernacle affiliated with the British Apostolic Church. Then following a schism in the Apostolic Church about 1940, Bablola went with a new independent church, Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), where he continued his healing and revivalistic activities until his death. The CAC regards Babalola as an apostle and his revival ministry as the beginning of the church. A CAC retreat center was built where Babalola was first called in 1928.

http://www.dacb.org/stories/nigeria/babalola4_joseph.html

xpac01:
These are real dedicated christians who has the burning urge to free humanity from pains and ignorance through a selfless service, not like those we see today scamming gullible men with cheap mind games. Following...

while these saints of old have help to bring christianity to nigeria its never to say the generals we have today are not doing great just appreciate each once passion and contribution.

robosky02:



while these saints of old have help to bring christianity to nigeria its never to say the generals we have today are not doing great just appreciate each once passion and contribution.

Just as few as 2% of the present generals bro. The rest are scam.

Akindayomi, Josiah Olufemi
1909 to 1980
Redeemed Christian Church of God
Nigeria
Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi was the founder and first general overseer of what is today known as the Redeemed Christian Church of God. The church, today acclaimed as the fastest growing Pentecostal church in the world, started in 1947 as an independent prayer fellowship, the Glory of God Fellowship. This group blossomed into the Redeemed Christian Church of God in 1952.

Josiah was born in 1909 into the Akindayomi family in Ondo State, Nigeria. From early childhood Josiah's parents noticed unusual things about him. When he was sick, alledgedly his sickness, that usually defied traditional medecin-the most common treatment for sickness in those days-would abate and subsequently disappear once he was bathed with ordinary water. Josiah himself also had an inkling that he was different, for although he grew up in an environment where the worship of Ogun (the Yoruba divinity of iron and war) was prevalent, he was aware of the existence of a greater power and yearned to know the true God who created the earth and everyone in it.

His yearning after God led him into the Anglican Church where he was baptized in 1927. Still spiritually unfulfilled, he joined the Cherubim and Seraphim Church in 1931. A few years later he began to hear a voice inside him declaring that he would be a minister of God. He was not at ease with this voice, which he identified as God's call to full time ministry. For seven years he ignored it, since he had never intended to be a pastor. During this period, virtually everything went wrong for him. All his business ventures failed; heavily in debt and without peace of mind, he found himself totally dependent on the grace of God.

The turning point for Josiah came when, in 1940, he dreamed of an old man scratching his leg. He woke up the next morning with a sore on his leg that deteriorated significantly within a short period of time. Then he heard the voice inside him telling him to submit to God's will and to serve him. When he asked for signs to confirm that the call was from God he was given the following passages as confirmation: Jeremiah 1:4-10, Isaiah 41:10-13, and Romans 8:29-31. [1] Without the use of medication, the Lord healed the sore on his leg. This marked the beginning of a definite relationship with God. Totally broken, he yielded to God, saying, "Lord I will go wherever you want me to go." The Lord assured him that he would provide for all his needs as he would henceforth receive no salary from anyone. This promise from the Lord was a comforting reminder to him during his trials in subsequent months.

Akindayomi was married in 1947 and relocated to Lagos in the latter part of that year. In Lagos, he worshipped with the Cherubim and Seraphim Church at its Ibadan Street, Ebute-Metta branch, where Prophet Onanuga, the immediate successor to Prophet Moses Orimolade, the church founder, was the leader. He was still with the church in 1947 when a zeal for a better service and a deeper experience with God prompted him to start the prayer fellowship later known as the Glory of God Fellowship that met at 9, Willougby Street, Ebute-Metta, Lagos. Initially there were nine members; however the fellowship gradually grew as the news of the miracles that occurred in their midst spread. It became so popular that it drew not only members of the church, but others from the neighborhood.

By 1952 he felt persuaded to leave the Cherubim and Seraphim Church. The fellowship he had started then grew into the Redeemed Christian Church of God. The name of the church was said to have been revealed to the founder in a vision. Allegedly the letters forming the name of the church appeared in the English alphabet to Akindayomi, who could neither read nor write. Miraculously he was able to scribble down the individual letters which, when put together, read "The Redeemed Christian Church of God." This has been the name of the church ever since.

In this same vision God promised to take the church to the ends of the earth and declared that the Lord Jesus Christ would meet the church when he returned in glory. The Lord also established a covenant with Akindayomi similar to the Abrahamic covenant in the Bible, promising to meet all the needs of the church in wonderful ways if only members would serve Him faithfully and be obedient to His Word. The Redeemed Christian Church of God was formed, based on this covenant, in 1952. The church continued to meet at 9 Willoughby Street until they acquired some land and relocated to their headquarters at 1-5 Redemption Way, Ebute-Metta, Lagos (formerly 1a Cemetery Street). In the 1950s it was quite fashionable for Nigerian independent churches to affiliate with overseas ministries for expansion purposes. However, according to sources, God strongly instructed the Redeemed Christian Church of God not to merge with any foreign or overseas body. Today the church has become one of the fastest growing Pentecostal churches in the world.

Like Moses in the Bible, Akindayomi named his successor before his death. In the early 1970s God had told him that his successor, who was not yet a member of the church, would be a young educated man. Thus when a young university lecturer joined the church in 1973, Akindayomi was able to recognize him in the Spirit as the one whom the Lord had spoken of. This man, Enoch Adejare Adeboye, a lecturer in mathematics at the University of Lagos, soon became involved in the activities of the church. He became one of the interpreters translating Akindayomi's sermons from the Yoruba language into English. He was ordained a pastor of the church in 1975.

One day the Lord revealed to Akindayomi that it was time for him to die. He then sent for Pastor Adeboye and spent several hours with him, sharing the details of the covenant and the plans of the Lord for the church. A year earlier, the Lord had revealed to Pastor Adeboye that he would be Akindayomi's successor, but it was too difficult for him to fully contemplate such an awesome responsibility. Akindayomi died in 1980 at the age of 71. Thereafter Pastor Adeboye's appointment was formalized and he has since been the general overseer of the church.

Today God is still doing powerful work through the Redeemed Christian Church of God worldwide. In 1981 there was an explosion of growth in the number of parishes. At the last count there were about 2,000 parishes of the church in Nigeria. The church is also present in other African nations, including: Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Gambia, Cameroon, and South Africa. In Europe the church has spread to England, Germany, and France. In the Americas there are U.S. parishes in Dallas, Tallahassee, Houston, New York, Washington, and Chicago, and in the Caribbean states of Haiti and Jamaica. One prominent program of the church is the Holy Ghost service, an all-night miracle service, held on the first Friday of every month at the Redemption Camp at Km. 46, Lagos-Ibadan expressway. The average number of those who attend the service is about 500,000. The Holy Ghost service is now also held in London on a quarterly basis.
Michael Leke Ogunewu


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http://www.dacb.org/stories/nigeria/akindayomi_josiah.html

Idahosa, Benson Andrew
1938 to 1998
Church of God Mission International Inc.
Nigeria




His Early Christian Ministry Testimony

As a young Christian, I once heard my pastor say during a morning service that Christians could raise the dead in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believed it with all my heart. And flying around on my bicycle in those days, I went through the city of Benin in search of a dead person to raise to life. After about five hours of hard searching I found a compound where a little girl had died a few hours before. The corpse had been cleaned and prepared for burial. I walked boldly up to the father of the dead child. "The God whom I serve can bring your baby back to life," I told him. "Will you permit me to pray for the child and bring her back to life?" The man was startled, but he agreed. With great enthusiasm, I walked into the room and up to the bed. The child was cold and dead. With strong faith in the Lord, I called on the Lord to restore the child back to life. I turned to the corpse and called it by name, "Arise in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Oh Glory to God! The corpse sneezed, heavily, alas. The child had come back to life! (Benson Idahosa)
Benson Idahosa's Childhood

Benson Andrew Idahosa was born in Benin City on September 11, 1938 of Apoor pagan parents. He was a sickly infant who was always fainting. As a result of his constant illness his father ordered the mother to throw him in the dust bin. When he was eighteen months old he was left on a rubbish heap to die. He was rejected by his father, sent to work on a farm as a servant and was denied education until he was fourteen years old. His education was irregular due to the poor financial status of his parents. He later took correspondence courses from Britain and the United States while working in Bata Shoe Company.

His Conversion and Call to the Ministry

His conversion was dramatic and his calling supernatural. He was converted by Pastor Okpo on a football field one Sunday afternoon while playing soccer with his teammates. Thus, young Benson became the first Bini member of Pastor Okpo's small congregation. As a young convert he became very zealous in winning souls and in conducting outreaches in villages around Benin City.

He was called to the ministry in a night vision from the Lord. "I have called you that you might take the gospel around the world in my name, preach the gospel, and I will confirm my word with signs following," said the voice from heaven. The room was filled with the presence of God as Benson fell to his knees beside the bed: "Lord, wherever you want me to go, I will go." He prayed on through the night, renewing his vows to God and interceding for his people who were yet to hear the message of salvation.

After his call, Benson launched into ministry work preaching from village to village the gospel of Jesus Christ with great power and anointing. More people confessed Christ as their Saviour, and more healings occurred as he prayed for the sick.

Expansion of His Ministry and His Credentials

Benson Idahosa, the archbishop and founder of Church of God Mission International Incorporated with its headquarters in Benin City, Nigeria established over 6,000 churches throughout Nigeria and Ghana before 1971. Many of the ministers he supervised pastored churches of 1,000 to 4,000 people. In addition to filling the position of archbishop of Church of God Mission, he was also president of All Nations for Christ Bible Institute, president of Idahosa World Outreach and president of Faith Medical Centre. He held positions in numerous organizations including the college of bishops of the international communion of Christian churches and the Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma.

Idahosa earned a diploma in divinity from Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas, which he attended in 1971, a Doctorate of Divinity in 1981 from the Word of Faith College, New Orleans and a Doctor of Laws degree from Oral Roberts University in March 1984. He also received other degrees from the International University in Brussels, Belgium.

Archbishop Benson Idahosa and his wife Margaret Idahosa were blessed with four children.

Idahosa's Supreme Task

Soul winning was Idahosa's primary concern. With a motto "Evangelism our Supreme Task," he worked towards this goal of reaching the unreached in Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As a black African, he found the doors of African countries were wide open and he ministered in over 123 countries all over the world.

Crusades played a major role in his ministry. He was involved in at least one crusade per month. A record crowd of nearly one million people a night attended his Lagos Crusade in April 1985. He established the Redemption Television Ministry with a potential viewing audience of 50 million people.

What Leading Gospel Ministers Said about Benson Idahosa

According to Mrs. Gordon Freda Lindsay, president of Christ for the Nations Inc., Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.:
I know of no young black in all of Africa who is reaching millions as Benson is,--in crusades with hundreds of thousands in attendance, in his weekly nationwide telecast, in his Bible School, training eager students from several nations. He also conducts campaigns in Sweden, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Australia and the United States, where he often appeared on national religious telecasts. His burden for souls, his ministry of healing and miracles, even to the raising of several dead, demonstrates he is especially called of the Lord in these end times.
Dr. Ben Akosa remarked:
Benson Idahosa is sought after by everyone in his state, from government officials to beggars. When they posed questions and explained their problems to this man they received instantanous miracle solutions, just as people did in Bible days with God's prophets. And the people get miraculous answers from this mighty leader of God's people.
Said Daniel Orris:
Benin City respects and salutes this great man of God, even at death. I have been with him on visits to many officials, to the governor, to the powerful Benin tribal kings. He moved with God and his people know it. His great miracle cathedral (his headquarters) seats over 10,000 (1981). His Bible School attracts upper class people from different African nations. And they also come from Maurice, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, Europe and other nations of the world--a truly International Bible Training Centre of dynamic faith. People know that Bishop Idahosa preached what he practiced. Dr. Idahosa's evangelistic ministry has reached nations around the world. He was the first black African evangelist to shake Australia in a massive crusade that got national attention. His seminars have affected Christians and church leaders in many countries. I sincerely salute this man because he practiced among his own people what he preached to the world. Benson Idahosa was a man who believed God's promises and that God's miracle provision applies to Africans as well as to Americans. He believed that Africa has a part in God's work, and Africa will reap God's blessings.
Evangelist T. L. Osborn, from Tulsa, Oklahoma remarked:
Many who follow Idahosa's teaching have been saved from poverty and have learned to plant out of their desperate need and to look to God as their divine source thereby becoming prosperous Christians in their own land. Idahosa rose from the rank of an ordinary man to world leadership as a pastor, builder, counsellor, prophet, teacher, apostle, evangelist,--a man of godly wisdom and of Christ-like compassion, whose ministry has blessed millions the world over. Idahosa was the greatest African ambassador of the apostolic Christian faith to the world.
The Secret of His Success

Idahosa operated in faith and he had a robust faith. He believed and trusted God with a childlike faith. He once said that living a daily life of absolute faith in God is the only secret to great success. He believed God for everything. "All things are possible to him that believes." He spent quality time in prayer and in the study of God's Word. He said that if someone spends time studying the Bible and acting on it, people will come looking for that person for life solutions. Idahosa also spent time studying the works and lives of other successful people both in the gospel ministry and other fields of human endeavors and he applied the principles he learned about these successful people to his life and ministry. He was very energetic and hardworking. One of the ministers who served under him said that he had never seen a person who worked as hard as Archbishop Benson Idahosa. He was committed and consistent and he had confidence in himself. He was very humble and full of godly wisdom.

Archbishop Benson Idahosa was said to be the leader of over seven million Jesus people worldwide before he went to be with the Lord in February 1998

http://www.dacb.org/stories/nigeria/idahosa_bensona.html

xpac01:

Just as few as 2% of the present generals bro. The rest are scam.

thats what you think but its more than that.

Akaniobio Church, Old Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria, ca. 1900-1910

Lagos - After Sunday's service catholic Church" Several African people in Western-style dress are walking on a path in front of a large brick or stone church.; The back of the postcard has a handwritten message in French and is postmarked 1917

Henry Townsend (1815–1886) was an Anglican missionary in Nigeria. Ordained in England in 1842, Townsend set off for Sierra Leone, landing there that same year. After working there only a few months, he was transferred to the Yoruba mission.

From 1846 to 1867, he based his mission in Abeokuta. Thomas Birch Freeman was actually the first European to enter Abeokuta. He arrived there on 11 December 1843. When he returned to Badagry on 24 December, he met Rev. Henry Townsend and they celebrated Christmas Day together sharing the Gospel in Badagry. According to Ajisafe, he was the first European person to enter Abeokuta, arriving there on 4 January 1843 and was 'given a grand reception' (Ajisafe 1924: 85). Working with Samuel Crowther, a Yoruba Anglican priest, Townsend wrote several hymns in Yoruba and aided in the compilation of Crowther's Yoruba primer. He retired in 1876.

Hopefully, they will be in heaven

[size=15pt] mater dei [/size]

Great men,laid a solid foundation for the growth of christianity in Nigeria.God will continue to bless them.

*sighs* these men remains the real deal.. most of em were not even English scholars,, yet they ministered the Word with zeal and fervor in their local languages.. These are men filled with the true spirit of God.. men who were so humble and shunned any form of hero worshipping from their members.. These are the saints of old.. These are the real deal..

Good work shall follow them #FaithOfOurFather

Great men! Their good deeds live on

sam Ajayi=christian and Danfodio=muslem, pls correct me if am wrong

Happy sunday to Nairaland!!

Good job OP. Keeping history alive

These are God's generals.

hmm..

good research

These are the ones that actually did the work of God not those commercial pastors.

Wow! Nice job op

Informative....

Good writeup

You have done a good research my. Friend but on the top of the ladder is apostle Moses Orimolade.
Where Babalola and Akindayomi came from.

Thisman has beeen too overlooked

Nice read! I love the faith of Benson idahosa!
These are great men of God who sought first the kingdom of God and it's righteousness... then other things were added to them! Not the other way round as we have it today!