Easter Special: The Introduction of Christianity in Yorubaland

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The introduction and acceptance of Christianity in Yorùbá-dominated areas of Nigeria can be traced to the desires and efforts made by the Yorùbá slaves that were granted freedom from England and America after the abolition of slave trade in 1772. It will be recalled that in 1772, the Lord Chief Justice of England, Lord Mansfield, gave legal teeth to the abolition of slave trade and as a result of the historical judgment, Freetown and Liberia were founded. The two cities served as training grounds for many of the freed slaves who had come into contact with Christianity during their period of captivity. However, many of the recaptives managed to make their ways inland and to Abé̩òkúta; the present capital of Ògùn State between 1838 and 1842.


The spiritual isolation of the recaptives made them to ask for missionaries (the likes of Henry Townsend and Thomas Birch Freeman were pioneering missioners to Yorubaland), first, to administer to them, and, more importantly, to minister to their heathen brethren who sold them into slavery. In fact, the quest for the establishment of mission stations in many towns and villages in Yorùbá land led to a phenomenal rise in the number of Missionaries of various Denominations coming from Europe and America into some Yorùbá major towns. The result of this was that Lagos, Badagry, Ò̩yó̩, Ìbàdàn, Ìjè̩bú-òde, S̩akí, Ilés̩à, Ifè̩, Oǹdó and Èkìtì land became the strongholds of Christianity by the first decade of the 20th century.
The Impact of Rev. Samuel Ajayi Crowther:


In 1841 Crowther was selected to accompany the missionary James Frederick Schön on an expedition along the Niger River. Together with Schön, he was expected to learn Hausa for use on the expedition. The goal of the expedition was to spread commerce, teach agricultural techniques, spread Christianity, and help end the slave trade. Following the expedition, Crowther was recalled to England, where he was trained as a minister and ordained by the bishop of London. He returned to Africa in 1843 and with Henry Townsend, opened a mission in Abeokuta, in today's Ogun State, Nigeria.


Rev. Dr. Crowther began translating the Bible into the Yoruba language and compiling a Yoruba dictionary. In 1843, a grammar book which he started working on during the Niger expedition was published; and a Yoruba version of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer followed later. He also began codifying other languages. Following the British Niger Expeditions of 1854 and 1857, Crowther produced a primer for the Igbo language in 1857, another for the Nupe language in 1860, and a full grammar and vocabulary of Nupe in 1864.


However, the Foreign Missionaries closed their stations and left for their home countries because of the outbreak of epidemic or plague, and the world economic recession as well as the First World War. Christians in Yorùbá land responded to the challenge by establishing prayer groups in order to cater for their spiritual needs. The most popular of such prayer groups was the 'E̩gbé̩ Òkúta Olówóiyebíye' (The Precious Stone Society). The group metamorphosed into the Faith Tabernacle. The Faith Tabernacle later became The Apostolic Faith and the Christ Apostolic Church (cf. Peel, 1968). The crises also resulted in the emergence of an avalanche of 'Aládùúrà' Churches such as the Cherubim and Seraphim Society (C&S) in 1925, the Church of the Lord (Aládù̀úrà) (C.L.A) in 1930 and Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) in 1947. The Aládùúrà Churches are mostly products of the various charismatic movements in Yorùbá land, and the movements started in the second decade of the 20th century.

They emerged gradually out of the visionary and prophetic experiences of a considerable number of individuals. Prominent among them were Saint Moses Orímo̩ládé, Primate Josiah Òshíté̩lú, Apostle Joseph Ayò̩ Babalo̩lá and Pastor SBJ Oschoffa, among others.
The 1960s, and 1970s also witnessed the emergence of a new brand of Christianity in Yorùbá land. The era saw the emergence of some Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal Churches, prominent among which are the Deeper Life Bible Church, the Redeemed Christian Church of God and Foursquare Gospel Church. This Phenomenon has led to the proliferation of several hundreds of Neo-Pentecostal Churches in Yorùbá-dominated areas of Nigeria.