By Oselloka Offoh
The Christian faithful of the Church of Nigeria are today marking the 165 years anniversary of the advent of gospel of Christianity in Igbo land. 27th July every year means much to Christians all over Nigeria especially the Anglicans who appreciated so much the level of sacrifices made by the Church Missionary Society in 1857 to launch Nigeria into the orbits of civilization..
Special church services are holding in various Anglican churches with road shows & processions to mark the day.
The CMS and the missionary work in this part of the world centres around the Yoruba ex-slave, who was picked up, baptised, and grew up to become Bishop Ajayi Crowther. He was the man whom God used to pioneer the work and coordinate the Missionaries and their activities. He was ably assisted by young Igbo slaves who were all converted and trained in Sierra Leone. These were the men on the ground who laboured for the planting of the gospel seeds among their own people in the very language and manner they understood, while Bishop Crowther as their Principal Leader coordinated & supervised the entire enterprise. It is worthy to observe that Bishop Crowther was more of an itinerant missionary Bishop who had the passion to preach the gospel of Christ in order to consolidate the mission work across West Africa.
Bishop Crowther’s first synod in1866 was held on the banks of the River Niger. He maintained Onitsha as the mission post from where he launched to other parts of the country. It is therefore well established that the Mission to Igboland and Niger Delta is what is at present known as Niger Mission. Both were founded by Samuel Adjai Crowther. He led the 1857 expedition that established at Onitsha as an ordained priest not as a Catechist as wrongly held in some publications. Bishop Crowther later established the Mission to the Delta in Bonny in 1865. All records showed that Crowther was in perfect control directing church planting in the East, North, and South of Nigeria, and at no time did King William Dappa Pepple found the Niger Delta Church.
The Niger Delta Diocese was carved out of the Diocese on the Niger in 1951. It is therefore untenable for the people of Niger Delta to claim the Primacy of their See over the See on the Niger.
It is an undeniable fact that the Bishopric of the Niger Territories dated from 1864 and that it is also the date of the birth of of the Diocese on the Niger. This also establishes the Primacy of the See On the Niger over that of Lagos which was created in 1919, with Ven. Frank Melville Jones as Bishop. It was the then Bishop on the Niger RT.Rev. Herbert Tugwell who operated as Bishop of the old Diocese of Western Equatorial Africa that consecrated the foundation bishop of Lagos. Diocese on the Niger therefore became the oldest Diocese in Nigeria, setting the pace in evangelism & mission infrastructure. At a point all the churches up to Northern Nigeria were under Christ Church, Onitsha which was the Seat of Bishop’s Crowther, Hill, Tugwell, Lasbery and Patterson before All Saints Cathedral( -Lady Chapel) was dedicated in 1952.
The history of the All Saints Cathedral Onitsha whose foundation was laid in 1949 by His Excellency Sir John Stewart Macpherson, Governor General of Nigeria is synonymous with the Niger Mission Expedition and planting of Christianity in igboland and adjacent territories. The communication of the gospel in the native dialect and lingua franca of the people and conversion of the local natives by the CMS, contributed phenomenally in the consolidation of the Christian faith in Igbo land. The Missionaries built schools for the development, emancipation, and enlightenment of the mental and intellectual capacities and faculties of the people. The school’s included primary, secondary and tertiary institutions scattered all over the Eastern Nigeria and beyond. Also the CMS missionaries in their bid to stop slavery and cannibalism in Igboland travelled to different parts of the world in search of food crops/plants suitable for the West African climate which will equally be good for African trade. The search yielded positive results in that almost all the staple food items we enjoy today we’re brought into the country by CMS Missionaries.
The following are some of the food items and their countries of origin . Yam came from West Indies, maize from USA, India and China, Cassava from Brazil & South America,and Amazon Basin. Also Rice came in from America, Japan, China & Ceylon while beans came from Egypt, Sudan & America . From the above revelations, our ancestors had no choice than to eat human beings as food(cannibalism). We can not really thank the missionaries of the CMS enough for the sacrifices they made to ensure that we had the light of the gospel . This light is what Bishop Owen Nwokolo on the Niger is taking to new levels today. Like the CMS missionaries, this Lion on the Niger is setting a pace in evangelism and missions infrastructural development with the coordination of projects that touch many lives. We therefore celebrate the CMS Anniversary with sober reflections and kudos to Bishop Owen and Church of Nigeria for advancing the cause of the gospel of salvation beyond all frontiers
•Offoh is Director Communications.