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Nigeria is not only the most populous but one of the most religious countries in Africa having the highest number of churches. History shows that Christianity came into Nigeria in the 15th century through Augustinian and Capuchin monks from Portugal. The first mission of the Church of England started in 1842 in Badagry by Henry Townsend.
In 1864 Samuel Ajayi Crowther, an ethnic Yoruba and former slave, was elected Bishop of the Niger and the first black Bishop of the Anglican Communion.
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First and Oldest Church in Nigeria
THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. PETER CHURCH Located in Ake, Abeokuta, Ogun State was built in 1898 is THE FIRST AND OLDEST CHURCH IN NIGERIA. It is also the first Anglican Church in Nigeria and the second-largest province in the Anglican Communion with 14 ecclesiastical provinces.
Facts Reverend Andrew Desalu Wihelm Laid the Foundation of the First Church in Nigeria to serve as the meeting place for all the missionaries
The First Catholic church in Nigeria
The First Pentecostal Church in Nigeria
The First Church in Northern Nigeria
Anglican Communion – The Saint Batholomew church, Wusasa, Zaria, built in 1929 is the first church to be erected in the north with local building materials and in the traditional Hausa architecture
This was made possible by a Hausa band in 1896 formed by a young missionary doctor from Cambridge, Walter Miller, who came through the Church Missionary Services (CMS) with a target of starting Christianity in Kano, where he was rejected.
In 1902, he relocated to Zaria to build a church, a school and a hospital. With about 33 boys the school was started in Wusasa. In 1929 he also built a church with a traditional Hausa architecture, which is still standing till today.