The Church in Nigeria
In the mid-20th century, many Nigerians learned about the Church from literature or friends and family. They believed and were faithful, despite the government’s refusal to allow missionaries into the country and the Church’s practice of restricting men of African descent from priesthood ordination. The Church was established in Nigeria following the 1978 revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy males.
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History of the Church in Nigeria
In response to letters from Nigerians who had read about the Church and organized unofficial congregations, Church leaders attempted to establish a mission in Nigeria in the early 1960s. Because the Church was unable to obtain missionary visas and, at the time, did not ordain men of African descent to the priesthood, plans were eventually put on hold. After the Nigerian Civil War, Ime Eduok, Anthony Obinna, and others ministered to those who still longed to join the Church, waiting in faith and patience to inherit the promises of the gospel (see Hebrews 6:12).
Following President Spencer W. Kimball’s 1978 revelation extending priesthood ordination and temple blessings to worthy Church members of African descent, the Church was finally established in Nigeria. Many people had long looked forward to that day and were finally able to be baptized and invite relatives and friends to join the Church. Ten years later, the first stake in Nigeria was organized.
Saints in Nigeria have served their communities in many ways, practicing integrity and goodwill in their own lives and participating in organized Church efforts. Relief Society sisters took the lead on a literacy effort that aimed to help women become more self-reliant and gain personal testimonies of the Book of Mormon. Saints of all ages have participated in the Church’s annual All-Africa Mormon Helping Hands Day. In 2005, a temple was dedicated in Aba. By 2018, 40 years after the first converts were baptized there, more than 160,000 Saints lived in Nigeria.
Stories of Faith
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Notes
- Akpani, Asquo. “Minutes of a Meeting Held at Ibesit Okpokoro, Nigeria, October 22, 1961.” Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
- Allen, James B. “Would-Be Saints: West Africa before the 1978 Priesthood Revelation.” Journal of Mormon History 17, no.1 (1991): 207–47.
- LeBaron, E. Dale, ed. “All Are Alike unto God”: Fascinating Conversion Stories of African Saints. Bookcraft, 1990.
- Mabey, Rendell N., and Gordon T. Allred. Brother to Brother: The Story of the Latter-day Saint Missionaries Who Took the Gospel to Black Africa. Bookcraft, 1984.
- Maki, Elizabeth. “‘You Have Come at Last’: Nigerian Builds Latter-day Saint Congregation, Waits for Missionaries,” history.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
- Our Testimony: The Story of LDS Church Pioneers in West Africa (video). Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
- Prince, Gregory A., and Wm. Robert Wright, “Blacks, Civil Rights, and the Priesthood,” in David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism (University of Utah Press, 2005), 60–105.
- “Rare Footage of First Baptisms in West Africa: Ghana and Nigeria in 1978,” history.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
- Sono-Koree, Charles. Africa West Area Historic Sites and Some Pioneers: The Church in Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Togo/Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone, circa 2012. Church History Library, Salt Lake City.