The New Apostolic faith came to the country from several directions—and sometimes in strange ways. Nigeria’s first Apostle, for example, was acquainted with the New Apostolic Church thanks to some cake. And now New Apostolic Nigerians are sharing a jubilee cake, so to speak.
With almost 280,000 members, Nigeria is the country with the largest number of New Apostolic members looked after by the district of Southern Germany. But in relation to the country’s 220 million inhabitants, the celebrants are few. Nigeria is by far the most populous country in Africa and the sixth most populous country in the world. But the New Apostolic Christians are proudly celebrating their golden jubilee throughout the country.
From slave trade to national economy
Since 2014, Nigeria, which is an emerging market, has been the largest economy in Africa, ahead of South Africa. Almost a third of all African technology start-ups come from there. The country’s largest city, Lagos, is the leading financial centre in West and Central Africa. The export of crude oil fuels the economy and Nigeria’s filmmaking industry produces as many films as only Hollywood and Bollywood worldwide.
Nigeria is located on the western coast of Africa and is bordered by Niger, Benin, Chad, and Cameroon. In the nineteenth century, Europeans divided the African continent among themselves and drew borders arbitrarily without regard for the people and their ethnic, linguistic, and cultural identities. Great Britain was given the territory of present-day Nigeria and quickly established a military presence. The economic activities of the colonialists not only weakened the local economy in what is now Nigeria, the inhabitants were also oppressed and often denied an education.
Allowing diversity
But where the British left the local governments more leeway, there was more development to be seen among the people. For example in the cities of Lagos and Calabar, where the British colonial administrator Hugh Charles Clifford allowed something like a democracy in 1922. After a short time, there were political parties, newspapers, women’s rights organisations, trade unions, and institutions offering higher education. Soon there were strikes and the like. In 1942, the Nigerians forced the colonial administration to release trade unionists in a dispute, and in 1960 they fought for independence.
English is the official and most widely spoken lingua franca in Nigeria, but there are over 500 different languages and dialects. The ethnic groups and cultures in Nigeria are just as diverse. The three largest ethnic groups are the Igbo, the Yoruba, and the Hausa. Numerous West African religions are practised in Nigeria. Islam arrived in what is now Nigeria as early as 1804 with the conquest of the militarist and preacher Usman dan Fodio. Christian missionaries came together with the British soldiers. They not only brought the Christian religion, but also founded missionary schools and had an impact on society.
Pastoral letters and cake
The New Apostolic doctrine was brought to Nigeria from several directions. In August 1968, a young Swiss, Peter Gfeller, moved to Nigeria on business. From then on, he received pastoral letters and the Our Family magazine. District Apostle Gottfried Rockenfelder commissioned Bishop Rudolf Schilling from the district of Hesse in Germany to begin building up the New Apostolic Church in Nigeria. In February 1974, he conducted the first New Apostolic divine service in Nigeria with around fifty guests. During his visit two months later, the District Apostle was able to seal more than thirty people, ordain four Deacons, and ordain Peter Gefeller as a Priest.
Meanwhile, in Guyana, Felix Omeh—a native of Nigeria—accidentally stumbled into a New Apostolic Church while searching for an Apostolic Church and stayed. In 1974, he had in the meantime been ordained a Priest, he was invited to Kitchener in Canada for the Day of the Youth and asked whether he would consider establishing the New Apostolic Church in Nigeria. And there the Priest soon discovered that he was not alone. And from then on the two men worked together: Priest Omeh in the north and Priest Gfeller from Lagos.
Then, in 1975, Okuyak Uwah joined the duo. Born in Nigeria, he became acquainted with the New Apostolic Church while having some cake in New York in the US. He began to build up the New Apostolic Church in his hometown of Uyo in eastern Nigeria. He was the first local man to be ordained as an Apostle on 19 February 1978.
Internal and external growth
As a result, many congregations were founded in Nigeria, musical activities were promoted, and teaching offered to children and young people. And the members practised charity and did a lot of good in many ways. In 1988 and 1992 Peter Gfeller and Felix Omeh also became Apostles, and in December 1999 the two districts in Nigeria were merged and placed under the leadership of Southern Germany.
Apostle Geoffrey Nwogu has been Lead Apostle for Nigeria since November 2016. He is supported by ten Apostles. The New Apostolic Church has around 280,000 members in the country. They are spread over some one thousand congregations and are cared for by more than four thousand ministers. This year the New Apostolic Church is celebrating its golden jubilee with exuberant parties and jubilee cakes. Church buildings are being renovated and water wells donated to mark the occasion.