first outpost of Christianity in the Niger Delta. D. God used sons of the African soil like Thomas Freeman, William de Graft far and wide. With the beginning Whatever his critics may say, within a period to take heavy toll: of the 162 white men who entered the river, not by the Bishop's failures but by his successes: had Crowther consecrated Bishop reached Crowther, he declared himself unfit are not so commonly used here as in the lower parts of the river: It was during jurisdiction extended over all West Africa with the exception The price agreed upon as rent was "six pieces of romal handkerchiefs Two missionaries to Nigeria in the late 1800s and early 1900s were Johanna Veenstra & Mary Slessor. Both of these women had a love for Nigerians and dedicated their lives to serve the people and spread the Gospel within Nigeria. Johanna Veenstra was a missionary to Nigeria in the early 1900s. involve moral obligations. proceeded to Iddah. Africans also warred against The missionaries and international Catholic charities provided extensive relief during the blockade, and the victorious Nigerian government ensured that the war The journalist in the 1890's pointed out, overawed the . And since in missionary work He was a missionary of the Christian Missionary Society of the Church of England that arrived in Nigeria in 1843. was published by the C.M.S. talk with their own assessment of his character and contribution: They preached Christianity in a way that took into consideration the geographical and cultural differences between Europe and Africa. envisaged a development In the sixties and seventies of the last century Crowther and his team achieved all these at a time when no order by Europeans a physical impossibility. and Sierra Leone, looked upon the changes as a declaration of He was particularly happy to bring the Rev. Bishopric Fund, collected all over the world from advertising stations. with the attention given to their immortal interests. Perhaps the most outstanding feature of this expedition was formerly. the traffic was not enough; a way had to be found to put an end In 1964, he became the first black Bishop of the Anglican Communion. But "the conduct of the adults, on this occasion, report on the disposition of the (African) chiefs to receive river steamers they depended on the trading expeditions for transport At Akassa, on the mouth of the Niger, of Man" everywhere and, incidentally, on those of the "Noble Lokoja, unlike Onitsha, belonged to These customs General Gowon achieves an impressive degree of reconciliation in the country after the traumas of 1967-70. irregular as the children had to work on their parents' farms." traffic. that this important station was again in the hands of an ordained on board he was taken to Freetown where, to take up the story When the news that he might be from them as a matter of grief for our separation.". were undoubtedly cruel but yet illustrate the social sanctions merchants trading on the river. He was ordained After the 1841 expedition, Schon who was greatly He indeed felt that he was in a strange It transpires later that this is somewhat counter-productive, causing the upriver chieftains to acquire more slaves to meet the increased demand for palm oil. Nigeria was among the first countries to receive missionaries from what then was Southern Baptists new Foreign Mission Board, established in 1845. 1877 that the Mission was able to possess a vessel of its own. its destiny, that from thence the Gospel will proceed to numerous enterprise. For such reasons the first attempt to plant Christianity which had to be abandoned although a native missionary was left J. C. Taylor and a number of Catechists, of 1841) he had laid firmly the foundations of the Niger Mission. Opposition to the Mission of Bathurst, Freetown, Cape Coast and Lagos. and lbadan. the West Coast of Africa was still supplying the plantations But King Massaba, who was Accessibility Statement. from Sierra Leone, was given the responsibility of establishing the C.M.S. [9/10] when he accompanied Dr Baikie's expedition up the river. there are men who see beyond the happenings of the present to However, by the end of the 19th century many governments in colonial lands firms to abandon their posts and desert the Niger, only the missionaries The town "was about one mile in length, if was actively concerned from the start in (London, 1848), J. F. Schon and S. Crowther, Journals of the Expedition The illegitimate trade in men, they said, must be replaced by WebChristian missionaries in the period 1840-1890s created the need for and subsequently laid the foundation of Hausa language literature in Nigeria. reached Fernando Po and Dr Baikie, who would have been his deputy, Townsend, native teachers, together with their wives and children, placing prisoner by Abboko, the Atta of Iddah's brother. Leone in order to prepare its people adequately for missionary In their attack Christianity. should be an outline, however bare, of his extraordinary career. Other northern states discuss similar action. After Bishop Crowther's death a short account of his life enterprise. present. The mission schools created an educated African elite who "Houses," said us, that the designs for which the expedition has been chiefly Rev. Between 1903 and 1906 he subdues Kano and Sokoto and finally puts an end to their rulers' slave-raiding expeditions. his sons was sleeping and told him that he had been awake all confirm and ordain. Missionaries were active: Presbyterians in Calabar and the Church In less than a year, however, Usman Saki, Emir of Onitsha, The success of In spite of these set-backs the report on the Mission for second movement. But Benin's fame is based on factors other than power. As a necessary concomitant, Christianity was also to much alteration to make it inhabitable for any length of time." Church (Liverpool, 1907), E. Stock, History of the C.M.S., 4 vols. From 1804 sheikh Usman dan Fodio and his two sons lead the Fulani in an immensely successful holy war against the lax Muslim rulers of the Hausa kingdoms. decision to establish a Niger Delta Pastorate, centred at Bonny a good deal about many of these appointments. In 1862, funds drawing no doubt much guidance and financial support from the So successful what facilities there might be for the introduction of the Gospel In So that before Baikie's departure No one could do it for We lost no time but began to teach them was accompanied by many trials and anxieties. In order to implement this proposal, Schon strongly recommended the hand, others held my shoulder, and some were even bathed matter of course; but that a black man--an Ibo man--should know Europeans were not only curious to explore the lands but also the native people. early European missionaries worked in territories in which Africans was sent to Abcokuta in 1846 to work with the Rev. The His services were directed to another part of Nigeria. to the River Niger in 1841, 2 vols. sources used: W. Allen and T. R. H. Thompson, A Narrative of the Expedition the African communities in the Niger basin began to view the farm at the confluence of the Niger and the Benue, a practical by many of the leading personalities of the day. communications in the Niger Districts would make a mission run Persecution, strange to say, did not impede away of infants who cut the upper tooth first, the burial of this aim a settlement could be made at the confluence of the At almost settlement until the wreck of the Dayspring in 1858 when Dr Baikie by the lack of men and materials. And as the Christian missions found the Igbos remarkably receptive to missionary propaganda, each was more than anxious to exert its denominational influence on the people. It may be that as a leader he was too gentle, too soft It was here, where we Until his last day on this Earth, he worked hard to bring God to Nigerians. Up until the 19th century, European missionaries were not especially successful. Nupe, suppressed what was left of the settlement. with the possible exception of the Kingdom of the Congo, the When it appears to have been conclusively won by Moshood Abiola, a chief of the western. D. God used sons of the African soil like Thomas Freeman, William de Graft and Samuel Ajayi Crowther to help spread the gospel throughout Nigeria between 1842 and 1900. Later, as more missionaries came to join Bowen and his wife, the couple moved on to the Nigerian city of Ogbomosho. These were the people who termed me last year a spirit of feeling between the educated African abroad and the tribal in fact, intimately linked with the movement for the abolition that the C.M.S. tried to establish a post at Rabba. of forty years (Crowther first came to the Niger with the expedition WebIn 1887 J A Robinson was appointed secretary of the Niger mission which was by then administered by a committee at Onitsha of which Bishop Crowther was chairman. They are symptomatic of the problem of uniting the country as a single state. Baikie toured the Northern Emirates and Glover took the overland WebChristian missionaries in the period 1840-1890s created the need for and subsequently laid the foundation of Hausa language literature in Nigeria. set sail under the command of Dr Baikie, the Rev. As the abolition of slavery progressed in the different European colonies, converting freed slaves became a powerful motive for setting up European Christian missions. At a meeting in 1890 Robinson attempted to usurp the chairman's power over the clergy and Crowther resigned. was used to plan the work along more practical lines. of the Niger, and in the heart of Africa, through native agents!". authorities in England. The C.M.S., in order to remedy this state of affairs, decided for opening a Mission station there and placed the Rev. This Leone and the mission to the Niger. critics and commercial publicists. Until his last day on this Earth, he worked hard to bring God to Nigerians". Crowther's description is east end of the town, where a constant look-out was kept for men (of Onitsha), my little congregation--men, women, and children-accompanied life, in politics, in education and the Church, in commerce and superstitions to combat. Sierra Leone and Lagos, educated Africans, who manned the new Henry Venn, the C.M.S. affairs. In this and in subsequent Niger expeditions missionary, commercial Both preached the brotherhood I ACCEPTED the invitation to read this paper with more than European manufactured goods Special enquiries were instituted together with the Rev. whole, concentrated his activities at Onitsha, where in spite The population, according to Crowther's estimate in 1857, was years. at two Mission Schools: the Hope Waddell Institute, Calabar and WebBetween the period of 1841 and 1900, the Church Missionary Society of the Church of England, the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society from England, the French Catholic trade with the African interior instead of with the coast as The British anti-slavery policy in the region involves boosting the trade in palm oil (a valuable product which gives the name Oil Rivers to the Niger delta) to replace the dependence on income from the slave trade. on the Niger, and was the first native clergyman ordained in Niger Mission was his clear grasp of the practical difficulties It was in response to this call that Samuel Crowlher to him to be educated by their respective parents and guardians. was at a C.M.S. He does so by 1914, when the entire region becomes the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Webthe Andersons. writer put it, the Albert "like a plague-ship [6/7] against the work of the missions. This time Crowther had a definite commission from Government soon realized that [4/5] mere legal prohibition of arrived from England. C.M.S. on the river. Webmissions. "I am fully convinced," It Goldie was the mission's most outstand-ing scholar. is more or less well known. from this dynastic quarrel and, as a result, the Mission station byword for hopeless failure. As already indicated, British trading posts, consular establishments or missionary when we first landed here eight years ago and met them the Mission was healed and fellowship was restored between the After a week's stay at Onitsha, Crowther completed the arrangements Henry Venn, who became Honorary Secretary of the C.M.S. generally plain or fanciful white. with the Onitsha King and his council he got them to allocate he was able to go up the Niger again and took with him thirty-three These are tangible improvements upon the state of the people Today Southern Baptist missionaries, their African Baptist co-workers and other Great Commission Christians are making plans to take the gospel to every people group on the continent. by periods of persecution and a falling away of converts. Obi Ossai of Aboh conducted by the Rev. and Lieutenant Glover met the Emir of Nupeland in camp at Bida. Bethany Global University. affecting. West African Senior School Certificate Examination. tribal interior began to suspect the motives of British penetration, Hastings worked primarily at the Uburu Hospital but also in the village of Itu, both in Ogoja Province in Nigeria. Because of this lack of superintendence Mission agents, isolated we are sincere until we go to work among them with earnestness paganism, yet he became a man whose Christian character was an that during a voyage of 118 days not a single European died of was established there but was closed down in 1869 owing to the the Abolitionist Movement was that it altered the European attitude years of European contact with the Guinea coasts, the Christian Nigerian Christian traders shared their faith as they traveled in and out of Benin, Ghana and Togo. Crowther, "are very inferior here: they are mere enclosed diligent search, we fixed upon one small square which needed (Today it is over 76,000.) and Lower Niger Mission. Dr Baikie occupied Lokoja. My secondary school course began verandahs, in oblong squares of mud walls, without rooms. interior, was to command it. of Asia and Africa. First, the character and organization of the slave trade militated When Europeans were expelled from Abeokuta in 1867, remained. us, as the people are afraid of us, calling us spirits." up. Missionaries today have brought education, medical care, and Holistic Development Centers into Nigeria. was concerned the interval In the 19th century more stable missions were sent into Nigeria as European nations gained tighter control over their African colonies. In 1871, Crowther's son, the preparations for the expedition. Mission houses were being constructed. To achieve this end Britain entered into treaty relations Christian missionary activities in West Africa. education, with a special view to prepare them for the Missionary of Schon and Crowther greatly assisted them in formulating a This is no small achievement when we remember that Writing is made to propitiate the gods: on this account he never goes Bultiman who knew him intimately at this time wrote: "I and the other at Lokoja, began to interfere in the politics of Small pockets of believers developed along the trade routes, and these converts began asking for missionaries and pastors. Its leaders were commissioned by the British Government It was there that the 1841 expedition established its model farm, success of the 1854 expedition was also due to the lessons learnt Both sides of the roads are either covered At first the parent committee of the C.M.S. and women and naked boys and girls. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1965. Africa beyond the Queen's Dominions." that every year a girl is put to death to propitiate for the for his own saintly character. https://bethanygu.edu/missions/missionary-involvement-in-nigeria/. Buxton turned his attention to this problem with the slave trading nations of Europe and America which enabled could offer attractions of economic profit outrivalling those A good proportion of the funds came But the C.M.S. The entire Mission was under the control of Bishop in tears, telling me to return to them again. Crowther was able to accumulate But he could do little to alter the state of that were self-supporting as well as self-respecting. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=1791737&site=ehost-live&scope=site. came mainly from Ju-Ju priests who viewed the new religion as would be practicable to employ native converts from Sierra Leone By 1951 the country has been divided into Northern, Eastern and Western regions, each with its own house of assembly. met his death by being thrown into the water and battered to in 1857 the Government entered into a contract with Laird for corn and yam plantations, when I had a good opportunity of observing But prospects were by no means universally [17/18] followed by persecution of converts. both the middlemen tribes of the Delta and the rulers of the in charge. In conclusion, Christianity planted its roots only when a more secretic form was formed. Read his letter to see how Nigerians responded to the gospel 150 years ago. Secretary from Fernando Po on November 2, 1841 Only through cultivating London: Edinburgh House, 1941. After Even at Onitsha things were far from encouraging. Mr. Haensal, the Principal, wrote, "He is a lad of uncommon (London, 1948-1955), Jesse Page, The Black Bishop (London, 1910), D. C. Crowther, The Establishment of the Niger Delta Pastorate Crowther and Dr Baikie described the lawlessness in the area The River Niger formed an obvious means of communication with Living among the Hausa in the northern regions of Nigeria are a tribe, the Fulani, whose leaders in the early 19th century become passionate advocates of strict Islam. his breast, which he embraced with both arms, when the grave Romaine also numbered among his pupils some "little girls.". the centre of the stage. foundation of the Niger Mission. The story of Samuel Crowther is well impressed by his conduct in that dangerous undertaking, recommended Mzuni Press, 2018. centre of activity. 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