6 History Entries Documented

The Historical Record

A sourced chronology of Christian church contributions to Nigeria — from the 1842 Methodist school in Badagry through the founding of the modern Pentecostal movements. Filter by era. Every entry is sourced.

All Eras Colonial Era (1900–1960) Early Mission Era (1842–1900)
  1. 1842
    Early Mission Era (1842–1900)

    1842 — Methodists Build Nigeria’s First School in Badagry

    Wesleyan Methodist Mission · Badagry, Lagos

    On 1 January 1842, Methodist missionary Thomas Birch Freeman established a nursery school in Badagry — the first formal school in what would later become Nigeria, founded 58 years before the Nigerian state itself existed.

    → Founded the first formal school in what would become Nigeria.

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  2. 1853
    Early Mission Era (1842–1900)

    1853 — Baptist Medical Centre Founded in Ogbomoso

    American Baptist Mission · Ogbomoso, Oyo

    American Baptist missionaries opened what would become Baptist Medical Centre, Ogbomoso — one of the oldest continuously operating hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa, predating the Nigerian state by more than 60 years.

    → Founded one of sub-Saharan Africa's oldest continuously running hospitals.

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  3. 1859
    Early Mission Era (1842–1900)

    1859 — CMS Grammar School Opens as Nigeria’s First Secondary School

    Church Missionary Society (Anglican) · Lagos

    The Church Missionary Society opened CMS Grammar School in Lagos in 1859 — the first secondary school in Nigeria, and the institution that produced many of the country's pre-independence professional class.

    → Founded Nigeria's first secondary school.

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  4. 1885
    Early Mission Era (1842–1900)

    1885 — Catholic Mission Establishes Onitsha as an Eastern Education Hub

    Holy Ghost Fathers (Catholic) · Onitsha, Anambra

    The Holy Ghost Fathers settled at Onitsha and built the school and seminary network that would shape education across the Eastern Region for the next century.

    → Built the eastern Catholic school and seminary network.

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  5. 1948
    Colonial Era (1900–1960)

    1948 — Uzuakoli Methodist Settlement Trials the Drug That Would Cure Leprosy Globally

    Methodist Leprosy Settlement · Uzuakoli, Abia

    At the Methodist Leprosy Settlement in Uzuakoli, medical researchers ran the trials that confirmed Dapsone (DDS) as a working leprosy treatment — a drug the WHO would later adopt as the global standard.

    → Trial site for the drug that became the global leprosy standard.

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  6. 1952
    Colonial Era (1900–1960)

    1952 — Reverend Josiah Akindayomi Founds the Redeemed Christian Church of God

    Reverend Josiah Akindayomi · Lagos

    In a small Lagos prayer fellowship, Reverend Josiah Akindayomi formally established the church that would, over the following seven decades, become Nigeria's most internationally recognisable Pentecostal movement.

    → Founding of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

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