The Agia Tree Monument Agiya Tree Monument is on the site once occupied by the ''Agia Tree'' (''

Egun The Gun people, also rendered Ogũ, Ogun and Egun, are an ethnic group located majorly in Lagos and Ogun State in southwestern Nigeria, and Ouémé Department in the southeast of the Republic of Benin, who speak the Gun language. The Ogu accoun ...

: Asisoe Tin'') close to the Badagry Town Hall. The Agiya tree was a tree with a circumference of . Significantly remarkable for being the tree under which Christianity was first preached in Nigeria by

Thomas Birch Freeman Thomas Birch Freeman (6 December 1809 in Twyford, Hampshire – 12 August 1890 in Accra) was an Anglo-African Wesleyan minister, missionary, botanist and colonial official in West Africa. He is widely regarded as a pioneer of the Methodist Chur ...

and

Henry Townsend Henry Townsend may refer to: *Henry Townsend (Norwich) (1626–1695), early American colonist born in Norwich, Norfolk, England *Henry Townsend (Oyster Bay) (1649–1703), American colonist born in Oyster Bay *Henry Townsend (missionary) (1815–18 ...

on September 24, 1842, the tree lived for over 300 years until it was uprooted by a storm on June 20, 1959. In place of the tree, an

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

was erected in 2012 in celebration of 170 years of

Christianity in Nigeria Christians in Nigeria comprise an estimated 49.3% of the population. Citing a 2012 Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life Survey Christians are dominant in the southern (south-east/south-south/South west and central region in ...

References

Monuments and memorials in Nigeria 2012 sculptures 1950s individual tree deaths {{Lagos-stub