CHURCHES ARE STILL STANDING IN THE NORTH When most people, who have some knowledge of Africa, think of northern Nigeria, they think of a territory which is solely Muslim. The media runs articles on Islamic fundamentalism in northern Nigeria and reinforces this perception. However, northern Nigeria is not the solid Islamic block that it is often depicted to be. For a hundred years Christian missionary activity has been at work there and a strong Church has emerged. It began as a mustard seed and has grown into a mighty tree. In this article, we will examine the spreading and the establishing of the Christian Church in northern Nigeria. To understand the story of the Church in northern Nigeria, it is useful to know a little bit about the history of this area. Before the presence of the British, large groups of tribal people lived here. Some archaeologists believe that these tribal people originated in the Middle East and migrated across the desert to what is now northern Nigeria. The two largest people groups in this area are the Hausa and the Fulani. It is believed that the Hausa settled in the north about a thousand years ago. It is also believed that Islam came to the north in the 13th century. Islam spread among these two people groups and was especially strengthened under the Fulani who conquered the Hausa for a time. The great river, Niger, served as somewhat of a natural boundary to the spread of Islam in what we today call Nigeria. South of the Niger River there were also tribal people, especially the Yoruba and the Igbo. These people followed animism. British and European Christian missionaries came into these parts and largely evangelized these people. Under British rule, the Nigerian protectorate was comprised of a Muslim north and a Christian and animistic south. A new military government, (non-British), in 1967 divided the north into six states and in 1976 an additional four states were formed. A dark chapter in the story of European and African relations was the slave trade which depopulated large portions of the Nigerian protectorate. However, strong Christian movements in England pressured the government until, finally, in 1807, British subjects were forbidden to participate in the slave trade. Further, in 1833, slavery was formally abolished in the British Empire. Efforts were made to cripple the American extraction of slaves from Africa as well. Once the slave trade ended, the chaotic conditions in the Nigerian protectorate began to normalize. At this point, many from England became involved in traveling to the Nigerian protectorate and establishing infrastructure in the region. Some of these also labored at spreading Christian faith. However, formal missionary work that was not connected with commerce and government did not really appear, in significant numbers, until the late 19th century. Pioneer missionaries, such as Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a Yoruban Christian, did much work in the protectorate. Crowther was ordained by the Anglican Church in 1843 and was consecrated the Bishop of Western Equatorial Africa beyond the Queen’s Dominions. In the latter half of the 19th century, floods of missionaries poured into the Nigerian protectorate, engaging in evangelistic work. Some of these even penetrated into the North. Mr. Simpson, a diplomatic agent, in 1871 conducted a survey of the northern town of Lokoja. According to his estimates, most of the 500 tribesmen living in Lokoja were Muslim, however, around forty were Christian. They made up the first known Christian community in the North. Other groups, such as the Sudan Party missionaries, also labored in these regions. They were associated with the British Keswick Convention and emphasized Holiness doctrine in their preaching. Sometimes groups like the Sudan Party missionaries conflicted with other missionary groups which were less challenging and less confrontational. Those following the less challenging and less confrontational approach aimed for what they considered a wider infusion of Christian faith that they hoped would later grow into a deeper and more mature experience of Christianity. Others, like the Sudan Party, disdained compromise and was more concerned with being faithful to the Gospel than to the numbers that they were influencing. Also, Methodist missionaries set up bases in the South and by means of railways began penetrating the North. Christian missionaries from a diverse background continued coming into the region. Many times Christian missionaries were warmly welcomed by the tribes-people in the North. Other times they were mistrusted and resisted, especially by Islamic religious leaders. Although the British officially had government and military rule in northern Nigeria, their hold on the region was not very strong. There was a lack of funding from the British government and a lack of manpower to sufficiently govern this region. British officials were aware of this and, consequently, made many concessions with northern Islamic leaders in order to gain their trust and support. Unfortunately, this meant that the British government outlawed Christian evangelistic work in the North. British officials were concerned not only over the religious implications of missionary work amongst northerners but also over the social implications of such work. Christian missionaries were teaching that all men were equal and it was feared that this might undermine the existing social structure which was built on a strict hierarchy. However, regardless of government decrees, Christianity in northern Nigeria continued. By the late 1920s and early 1930s, Christian missionaries had pressured the government sufficiently to begin considering changes to the existing ban on northern missionary work. In May of 1931, amendments were made to government policy and mission stations were permitted in the far North, but still with certain stiff restrictions. One area through which Christian missionaries had great success in the spread of the faith was in education. Before the missionaries came to the Nigerian protectorate, there was no organized system of written education and the vast majority of the population was illiterate. The only education existing in the North was in primitive Quranic schools. In the South, where missionaries enjoyed the greatest freedom to carry out their work, very many missionary schools were founded and education flourished. The government did not have the resources to provide secular education on a large scale but did make some effort and started some schools. Especially after the Second World War, strong feelings were emerging in the North that they were not keeping pace with the modern world and the benefits of modernity. There was a great demand and outcry for medicine, political structure and education. Again, the government did not have the resources to provide for this need, but the need could be met to some degree by the government giving grants to already existing Christian missionary schools and letting them expand their work. Not only were Christian missionaries willing to set up schools, they were also willing to work on missionary salaries. Christian missionary educational work in the North flourished until, by 1969, they were playing a major role in the education system of northern Nigeria. Even in government-established schools, Christian religious instruction could be found alongside Islamic education. Another area in which Christian missionaries gained access to the North was through medical work. Missionary organizations came in and established hospitals, dispensaries and leprosy settlements. It cannot be overstated the impact that these have had upon the needy communities of the North. Even before the coming of Christian missionaries, in the minds of the tribesmen there was a strong association between physical healing and spirituality. When tribesmen were helped by the missionary’s medicine, very often they were open to hearing of the missionary’s faith. Once again, as in the case of education, the secular government did not have the resources to sufficiently establish hospitals where they were needed throughout Nigeria. So once again, the government worked hand-in-hand with the missionary societies, sometimes providing aid to missionary hospitals and, at other times, founding secular hospitals with staff recruited by missionaries. Through medical work, Christianity saw much growth in the North. Another area in which Christian presence in the North was strengthened was through the settlement of non-indiginous Christians. In the North there could be found many Christians who were of African origin, yet from outside of northern Nigeria. There were even large numbers of Lebanese who settled in the North. It has been estimated that at the beginning of the 1920s, forty percent of educated Africans in the northern townships were from other parts of Africa. Around eighty-three percent of these were Christians. It has been said that between the two world wars the majority of Christian believers in the North came from the southern parts of Nigeria. Although Christian faith did spread in the North from missionaries to natives, it spread in a greater way in the North from natives to natives. Indigenous Nigerian Christian groups felt the need to reach their fellow Nigerians and began penetrating the North and sharing their faith. As native Christian Nigerians began sharing their faith with other Nigerians, both in the North and elsewhere, the Christian Church grew. Because much of the growth of the Christian Church in Nigeria has been indigenous, the converts in many cases have been outside of the operation of established organizations and denominations. The Nigerian Church is known for its various prophetic movements in which independent Christian leaders have risen up and founded their own organizations. From the 1970s onward, it is also known for the “Pentecostal wave” which has swept through the nation. Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement have grown immensely in Nigeria. Many of the Hausa and Fulani have turned to Christ and know Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Christianity in the North could not be stopped by either Muslim religious leaders or the British government. From pioneer missionary ministers to missionary teachers, to missionary doctors and to indigenous Nigerians themselves, Christianity has spread in northern Nigeria and a strong Church has emerged to the glory of Jesus Christ, its founder.Shawn Stevens 5 Responses to “” Comments: Babalola OE Thank you for this article. Recently Boko Haram (the radical Islamist terrorist movement in Northern Nigeria) gave a directive that all Christians should leave the North. This directive betrayed the ignorance, shallowness and vacuousity of the movement. There are literally millions of indigenous northerners who are christians, and who are not about to go anywhere anytime soon. Even within all the sharia states and without exception, you do have significant christian communities. The Gabusawa christians are ethnic Hausas who have given their lives to christ and who number in the hundreds of thousands. The big indigenous churches of northern Nigeria include the ECWA church (the Evangelical Churches of West Africa) and the COCIN church (The Church of Christ in Nigeria) with millions of adherents. membership of these churches are however drawn mainly from non-Hausa Fulani tribes-men of which there are millions. Southern Christians who are settled in and work in Northern Nigeria may make up no more than 30% of the total christian population. it Boko Haram wants a confrontation, they will will be in for a rude shock. JM - USA May the Christian churches of Africa re-awaken Christianity throughout the world! Peace and much love to our Christian brothers and sisters in Nigeria! Emma Obiorah Beloved, in times like this we need voice that could not only help us to trace our roots but also to speak to the world as a ‘witness that we are still here standing for Christ despite the attacks from the gates of hell”. thanks for what you are doing
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 17:13:53 +0000
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