Christian Missionaries and Civilization in Southern Nigeria, 1841-1960: Implications for Contemporary Christians

Abstract

The history of Christian missionary enterprise in the southern part of Nigeria especially since the nineteenth century reveals the contributions of various missionary bodies to the civilization and development of the area. From the 1840’s various Christian missionary bodies have done a lot to evangelize different parts of southern Nigeria, and also had brought about civilization and development of various forms in the area. It is a fact that meaningful missionary enterprise which had yielded enormous result in national development began in the 1840’s in Yorubaland (1842), moved to the Efikland by 1846 under the Church of Scotland Mission and then to the Igbo heart land in 1857 spearheaded by the Methodist, the Anglican and the Roman Catholic Churches. This paper has therefore traced the history of the civilizing mission of the various missionary bodies that have been operating in southern Nigeria since the nineteenth century and has highlighted the enormous contributions made by these missionary bodies towards the development and civilization of the area.

UJAH: Unizik Journal of Arts and Humanities vol 14 (2) 2013