Christianity in Nigeria

The majority of Nigeria’s approximately 70 million Christians are either Roman Catholic (at least 18.9 million) or Anglican (18 million), but a diverse group of Protestant churches also claim significant members, including Baptists (the Nigerian Baptist Convention claims 6 million worshipping members), Presbyterians, Assemblies of God, Methodists, the Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ, and what are known as the Aladura churches (Pentecostal and Spiritualist independent churches which emerged out of the Anglican Church during colonialism).

Roman Catholics and Methodists are predominant in southeasterly Igboland, while Anglicans and other Protestants (including Aladura Christians) have maintained a strong influence over Yorubaland in the southwest. The most dramatic growth within Nigerian Christianity in recent decades has been among those who identify as Evangelical or Pentecostal (either as members of newer movements or denominations, or charismatic versions of Roman Catholicism or Protestantism).

A Pew Forum survey in 2006 showed that roughly six in ten Protestants in Nigeria and three in ten Catholics were charismatic or Pentecostal. Though numbers are hard to estimate in these largely decentralized movements, the Evangelical Church Winning All claims 5 million members (mostly in the central region, but also in the north), and several large megachurches dot Nigeria’s landscape (perhaps the best known is Winners’ Chapel in greater Lagos, whose Faith Tabernacle seats more than 50,000 people). There has also been a steady population of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and a small but growing population identified with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon).

Christianity is the largest religion in sub-Saharan Africa, it was first introduced to north Africa, it slowly started spreading west to Ethiopia. But even with Christianity slowly spreading throughout Africa, it wasn’t prominent until slavery, where Christianity was being forced upon the enslaved Africans by the Europeans. There’s different variations to the Christianity religion, everybody practices and worship in their own way; but some things they do have in common is that Christians do have places of worship no matter what type of Christian you are, there is always a church for the people to worship and praise god.

Even though most people interpret the bible differently, all Christians still use the bible as their layout of worship. The last religion I wanted to highlight was the Islam religion; there’s about 234 million Africans that follow the Islam religion. Most of the Africans who practiced the Islam faith was centered in north Africa, but even with all these religions being based in Africa; Muslims had a different way of worshipping their god. Muslims called their God (Allah), which was founded by the prophet Muhammed in the seventh century. Christianity and Judaism influenced the Islam religion, it

Over the years, they started different missions and expanded the Christian religion o most of Africa. When the Europeans realized that they needed labor for sugar, cotton and tobacco and they wanted it cheap and continuously, they turned to the holy roman emperor to allow the importation of slaves, which in the end was granted so now slaves were being sold and taken from Nigeria with the church being one of the trades biggest supporters. The British empire went into treaties with America and the other countries to end slavery because they were still selling slaves for trade and money way after the British had stopped. So, after the countries agreed to stop, what the British did was send their navy to capture the foreign slave dealers. When the dealers were captured they were sent to Freetown in Sierra Leone. Thus, Freetown became a conglomeration of people from several Nigerian and West African tribes.

The Sierra Leone settlers were exposed to Christian doctrines and Freetown was to serve as a nerve center for the spread of Christianity and civilization in West Africa. The missionaries felt that education was an importance for the Africans to truly understand the Christian values and beliefs, without them knowing how to read they wouldn’t be able to read the bible and continue to pass.

I.F.O.C.C. Nigeria

I.F.O.C.C. Plays a major role participating in the gathering of Christian churches under the banner of the Five Fold Ministry. I.F.O.C.C. has License, Ordain and Consecrated many Bishops and Apostles to bring Unity to the body of Christ and to empower and give hope to the Christian Churches they serve.

I.F.O.C.C. Has many churches and ministries in Nigeria under the Leadership Of  Bishop Mercy Deborah Itorobong, Presiding Prelate I.F.O.C.C. Nigeria.