The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nigeria
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nigeria refers to the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...
(LDS Church) and its members in
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
. At year-end 1983, there were 2,255 members in Nigeria. In 2019, there were 192,144 members in 722 congregations making it the largest body of LDS Church members in Africa.


History

In the 1950s and 1960s, several thousand native Nigerians became interested in joining the LDS Church, despite the church having no formal presence in the country. In November 1962, LeMar Williams was set apart as a mission president in Nigeria. However, he was not able to get a visa as an American.
N. Eldon Tanner Nathan Eldon Tanner (May 9, 1898 – November 27, 1982) was a politician from Alberta, Canada, and a leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 to 1952 a ...
, a Canadian, went to Nigeria and began negotiations with the Nigerian government. While he was there, he dedicated Nigeria for the preaching of the gospel. Ambrose Chukwuo, a Nigerian college student studying in California, read ''Mormonism and the Negro'' and sent a letter to a Nigerian newspaper condemning the LDS Church's teachings on blacks. The newspaper published Chukwuo's letter and the letters of other students with similar opinions. The Nigerian government did not give the LDS Church a permit to proselyte and church president
David O. McKay David Oman McKay (September 8, 1873 – January 18, 1970) was an American religious leader and educator who served as the ninth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1951 until his death in 1970. Ordain ...
postponed proselyting plans. In 1965, Williams obtained a visa to go to Nigeria and began preparing to set up a mission in Nigeria. Since black Nigerians couldn't hold the priesthood, Williams was going to baptize those who were ready and set up auxiliary organizations that could function without the priesthood. Black Nigerians would be allowed to pass, but not bless the sacrament. However, several members of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...
expressed concern about teaching black people and called for the program to be terminated. After a unanimous vote, they decided to end the program. They contacted Williams and told him to leave Nigeria immediately. The
Biafra Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the predominantly Igbo-populated form ...
n war in 1967 further postponed church work there. With the 1978 Revelation on Priesthood, plans were again began to start the church in Nigeria. Ted Cannon and his wife, Janath, along with
Rendell N. Mabey Rendell Noel Mabey (August 8, 1908 – November 8, 2000) was a speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, member of the Utah State Senate, and prominent leader of missionaries in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mabey was a ...
and his wife, Rachel, were sent to Nigeria, arriving in November 1978, five months after the revelation. They based their operations out of
Enugu Enugu ( ; ) is the capital city of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in southeastern part of Nigeria. The city had a population of 820,000 according to the 2022 Nigerian census. The name ''Enugu'' is derived from the two Igbo words ''Énú ...
, and the first
branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...
they organized was with
Anthony Obinna Anthony Uzodimma Obinna (April 15, 1928 – August 25, 1995), born in Umuelem Enyiogugu in Aboh Mbaise, (local government area of Imo State, Owerri) in Nigeria, was the first convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) ...
as president. Most of the earliest converts they baptized were in various villages throughout south-eastern Nigeria and had been meeting and seeking church membership for years, if not decades.LDs Church Newsroom article on Nigeria
/ref> At first Nigeria was administered by the church's International Mission. In 1983 a Nigerian, mission was organized, which originally also covered Ghana. In 1988, the church's first
stake Stake may refer to: Entertainment * '' Stake: Fortune Fighters'', a 2003 video game * ''The Stake'', a 1915 silent short film * "The Stake", a 1977 song by The Steve Miller Band from '' Book of Dreams'' * ''Stakes'' (miniseries), a Cartoon Netw ...
in Nigeria was organized in Aba, with
David W. Eka David William Eka (born 20 May 1945 in Etinan, Nigeria) was the first stake president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in West Africa. He was president of the Aba, Abia, Aba, Nigeria Stake (Latter Day Saints), Stake an ...
as
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
. In 1993, the second stake in Nigeria was organized in Benin City. In 1998,
Gordon B. Hinckley Gordon Bitner Hinckley (June 23, 1910 – January 27, 2008) was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from March 1995 until his death in January 200 ...
became the first church president to visit Nigeria, presiding at a large meeting in Port Harcourt. In 2000, Hinckley announced plans to build a
temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
in Aba. The temple was dedicated by Hinckley in 2005. In 2009, the temple was closed as foreign temple worker missionaries were withdrawn due to violence in the area. The temple was reopened in 2010 with a Nigerian as temple president and all temple workers being Nigerian. By 2018, there were over 50 stakes in Nigeria. In that year church president
Russell M. Nelson Russell Marion Nelson Sr. (born September 9, 1924) is an American religious leader and retired surgeon who is the 17th and current president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Nelson was a member of the LDS Church ...
announced plans to build a temple in Lagos, Nigeria. The first stake in Lagos had been organized in 1995, and in 2015 it had gone from 3 to 5 stakes. The LDS Church was still most heavily concentrated in south-east Nigeria, with Akwa Ibom State alone having 12 stakes. Much of northern Nigeria had no LDS Church presence and many areas in mid-Nigeria had only begun to have significant organizational presence of the church in the mid-2010s. By mid-2019 there were 58 stakes in Nigeria, with the 58th stake being the 3rd based in the capital city of Abuja. The Abuja stakes were far and away the most northern in Nigeria, with the district in Jos containing the only other units of the church even close to that far north. The growth had in some places been very fast, with Yorubaland (not including heavily Yoruba Lagos State) having gone from no stakes in 2013 to 5 by 2019. Other states that saw significant growth were Delta State, that went from a few branches in a district outside the state in 2015 to three districts and a stake in 2019. Benue State in the more central area of the country had one branch in 2015, and did not get a district until 2017. By 2019 the state had 3 districts.


Missions

The LDS Church announced creation of new Owerri mission in Nigeria in 2016. In November 2022, the LDS Church announced it would be creating the Nigeria Aba and Nigeria Abuja missions in July 2023.


Temples

Nigeria currently has 1 operating temple and 3 temples that have been announced.


See also

* Religion in Nigeria * Christianity in Nigeria


References


External links


Official site
of the Church {{DEFAULTSORT:Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nigeria, The The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nigeria 1978 establishments in Nigeria