Baptist Christianity in Nigeria

There are roughly 14 million Baptists in Nigeria, most of whom are affiliated with churches under the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), an umbrella organization that grew out of missionary work begun in the 1850s by the American Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).

American Baptist missionaries began arriving in what would come to be Nigeria in 1850, and included both white and black missionaries. White missionaries were initially deterred by work in Africa and instead focused on Asia, with racism being a considerable factor, followed by fears of malaria. As a result, early missionaries were largely former slaves and free men and women driven to share their faith with others they identified with, though white missionaries began arriving after 1850. Nonetheless, the SBC encouraged African American missionary initiative for several reasons: black missionaries were paid less, they were thought to be better at communicating with Africans, and they were physically better able to withstand malaria. However, they recommended that each mission site have a white superintendent.

Like other missions, the SBC worked through medicine and education. SBC Missionary Schools were distinguished among other missionary schools by their emphasis on educating young Nigerians to become members of an indigenous Baptist clergy. Like other missions, Baptists also believed that they held a responsibility to “civilize” Nigerians; the American Baptists accentuated American democracy and civil liberties in the curricula. However, the Baptist schools did not introduce American-style education, nor did they encourage Nigerian students to study in the United States, much to the chagrin of local Nigerians who sought opportunities to pursue an American education.

By 1950, “Africanization” of the church was well underway and Nigerian Baptists assumed prominent roles in the majority of congregations, schools, and organizations, which included leadership of the Nigerian Baptist Convention. 1950 also marked the first year that the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary began granting degrees, which helped to meet an immense need for Baptist pastors in Nigeria.

Nigerian Baptists were acutely aware of the racial dynamics in America, and in 1955 the NBC issued a statement condemning racism and identifying themselves with African Americans, communicating to American Baptists—who were certainly grappling with racism in the south—that racism hindered missionary efforts in Africa. Several Nigerian Baptists reported experiences of racist harassment by fellow Baptists during visits to the United States, and Nigerian Baptists paid close attention to news from America in the 1960s. Some churches refused to accept missionaries from American churches that practiced segregation.

Sources

Sandy D. Martin, Black Baptists and African Missions: The Origins of a Movement 1880-1915 (Macon: Mercer University Press, 1989).

Michael M. Ogbeidi, “American Missionaries and Education Development,” Religion, History, and Politics in Nigeria: Essays in Honor of Ogbu U. Kalu (Lanham: University Press of America, 2005).

Allan Scott Willis, All According to God’s Plan: Southern Baptist Missions and Race, 1945-1970 (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2005).