The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nigeria
AreaAfrica West
Members221,172 (2022)[1]
Stakes68
Districts15
Wards505
Branches264
Total Congregations[2]769
Missions9
Temples1 Operating
4 Announced
5 Total
Family History Centers96[3]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nigeria refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and its members in Nigeria. At year-end 1983, there were 2,255 members in Nigeria.[4] In 2022, there were 221,172 members in 769 congregations making it the largest body of LDS Church members in Africa.

History

Membership in Nigeria[5][1]
YearMembership
19832,255
19855,500
198912,000
199528,000
199942,746
200468,777
200988,374
2012103,898
2015142,033
2019192,144
2022221,172
*Membership was published as a rounded number.

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, 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.[6]:85 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 postponed proselyting plans.[6]:85–87 [7]:24 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.[6]:91 Black Nigerians would be allowed to pass, but not bless the sacrament.[7]:23 However, several members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles 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.[6]:93 The Biafran war in 1967 further postponed church work there.[6]:94

With the 1978 Revelation on Priesthood, plans were again begun to start the church in Nigeria. Ted Cannon and his wife, Janath, along with Rendell N. Mabey and his wife, Rachel, were sent to Nigeria, arriving in November 1978, five months after the revelation. They based their operations out of Enugu, and the first branch they organized was with Anthony Obinna 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.[8]

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 in Nigeria was organized in Aba, with David W. Eka as president. In 1993, the second stake in Nigeria was organized in Benin City.

In 1998, Gordon B. Hinckley 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 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 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.

Stakes and districts

Stake/District Organized Mission
Aba Nigeria North Stake15 May 1988Nigeria Aba
Aba Nigeria Ogbor Hill Stake3 Dec 2006Nigeria Aba
Aba Nigeria Osisioma Stake15 May 2022Nigeria Aba
Aba Nigeria South Stake6 Dec 2015Nigeria Aba
Aba Nigeria Umuola Stake10 Jun 2018Nigeria Aba
Abak Nigeria Stake6 Jun 2010Nigeria Aba
Abakaliki Nigeria Stake14 Sep 2014Nigeria Enugu
Abeokuta Nigeria Ibara Stake2 Sep 2018Nigeria Ibadan
Abeokuta Nigeria Stake1 Aug 1993Nigeria Ibadan
Abuja Nigeria Kubwa Stake29 May 2016Nigeria Abuja
Abuja Nigeria Lugbe Stake12 Oct 1997Nigeria Abuja
Abuja Nigeria Wuse Stake23 Jun 2019Nigeria Abuja
Agbor Nigeria District24 Nov 2013Nigeria Owerri
Akamkpa Nigeria Stake29 Nov 1998Nigeria Uyo
Akure Nigeria District18 Mar 2018Nigeria Ibadan
Asaba Nigeria Stake19 Mar 2006Nigeria Owerri
Awka Nigeria Stake24 Nov 2019Nigeria Owerri
Benin City Nigeria Ihogbe Stake24 Oct 1993Nigeria Benin City
Benin City Nigeria Ikpokpan Stake2 Mar 1997Nigeria Benin City
Benin City Nigeria New Benin Stake2 Sep 2007Nigeria Benin City
Benin City Nigeria Oregbeni Stake20 Sep 2015Nigeria Benin City
Benin City Nigeria Siluko Stake11 Mar 2012Nigeria Benin City
Benin City Nigeria Sokponba Stake18 Feb 2018Nigeria Benin City
Benin City Nigeria Ugbowo Stake11 Mar 2012Nigeria Benin City
Benin City Nigeria Uzebu Stake18 Feb 2018Nigeria Benin City
Bori Nigeria District18 Aug 2019Nigeria Port Harcourt
Calabar Nigeria Stake1 Dec 2002Nigeria Uyo
Calabar Nigeria North Stake3 Dec 2017Nigeria Uyo
Calabar Nigeria South Stake17 May 2015Nigeria Uyo
Eket Nigeria Stake14 Jul 1996Nigeria Uyo
Ekete Nigeria Stake29 Nov 2020Nigeria Benin City
Ekpoma Nigeria Stake6 Jun 2010Nigeria Benin City
Enugu Nigeria Stake25 Sep 1988Nigeria Enugu
Etinan Nigeria Stake22 Sep 1996Nigeria Uyo
Etinan Nigeria North Stake6 Mar 2016Nigeria Uyo
Gboko Nigeria District20 Jan 2019Nigeria Enugu
Ibadan Nigeria Stake3 Aug 1991Nigeria Ibadan
Ibadan Nigeria North Stake24 Mar 2019Nigeria Ibadan
Ibesikpo Nigeria Stake29 Aug 2010Nigeria Uyo
Ijebu-Ode Nigeria Stake20 Jun 1993Nigeria Ibadan
Ikot Akpaden Nigeria Stake27 Jun 1999Nigeria Port Harcourt
Ikot Akpatek Nigeria Stake5 Jun 2016Nigeria Port Harcourt
Ikot Ekpene Nigeria Stake3 May 2009Nigeria Aba
Ile-Ife Nigeria Stake17 Oct 1999Nigeria Ibadan
Ilorin Nigeria District15 Jul 2018Nigeria Ibadan
Jos Nigeria District14 Feb 1993Nigeria Abuja
Lagos Nigeria Agege Stake20 Feb 2005Nigeria Lagos
Lagos Nigeria Egbeda Stake22 Nov 2015Nigeria Lagos
Lagos Nigeria Festac Stake22 Nov 2015Nigeria Lagos
Lagos Nigeria Ikeja Stake23 Feb 1997Nigeria Lagos
Lagos Nigeria Ikorodu Stake19 Jun 2022Nigeria Lagos
Lagos Nigeria Ikotun Stake26 Jun 2022Nigeria Lagos
Lagos Nigeria Ojodu Stake24 Jun 2018Nigeria Lagos
Lagos Nigeria Yaba Stake15 May 2011Nigeria Lagos
Makurdi Nigeria District3 Sep 2017Nigeria Enugu
Mbaise Nigeria Stake22 Aug 2010Nigeria Owerri
Nsit Ubium Nigeria Stake16 Jul 2023Nigeria Uyo
Nsukka Nigeria District5 Jun 2016Nigeria Enugu
Nsukwa Nigeria District31 Mar 2019Nigeria Owerri
Ogwashi Nigeria District24 Nov 2013Nigeria Owerri
Ohafia Nigeria Stake18 May 2014Nigeria Enugu
Okpuala Ngwa Nigeria Stake23 Oct 2005Nigeria Aba
Okrika Nigeria District6 Dec 2009Nigeria Port Harcourt
Ondo Nigeria Stake26 Jul 2015Nigeria Ibadan
Onitsha Nigeria Stake23 Sep 1988Nigeria Owerri
Oron Nigeria District8 Mar 2009Nigeria Uyo
Otukpo Nigeria District16 Jul 2017Nigeria Enugu
Owerri Nigeria North Stake27 Jan 2019Nigeria Owerri
Owerri Nigeria Stake14 Jun 1998Nigeria Owerri
Port Harcourt Nigeria Stake25 Nov 1990Nigeria Port Harcourt
Port Harcourt Nigeria Central Stake5 Sep 2021Nigeria Port Harcourt
Port Harcourt Nigeria Choba Stake8 Jul 2018Nigeria Port Harcourt
Port Harcourt Nigeria East Stake13 Nov 2011Nigeria Port Harcourt
Port Harcourt Nigeria North Stake27 Nov 2016Nigeria Port Harcourt
Port Harcourt Nigeria South Stake27 Nov 2016Nigeria Port Harcourt
Port Harcourt Nigeria West Stake6 Jul 2003Nigeria Port Harcourt
Ugep Nigeria District10 Apr 2022Nigeria Enugu
Ukat Aran Nigeria Stake19 Sep 1999Nigeria Uyo
Umuahia Nigeria Stake19 Nov 1995Nigeria Owerri
Umuahia Nigeria South Stake12 May 2019Nigeria Owerri
Uyo Nigeria Central Stake20 Aug 2023Nigeria Uyo
Uyo Nigeria Ibiono Stake23 Nov 2008Nigeria Uyo
Uyo Nigeria Stake9 Dec 2001Nigeria Uyo
Warri Nigeria Stake18 May 1999Nigeria Benin City
Yenagoa Nigeria Stake29 Dec 2013Nigeria Port Harcourt

Missions

The LDS Church announced creation of new Owerri mission in Nigeria in 2016. The Nigeria Aba and Nigeria Abuja missions were created in July 2023 bringing the total number of missions in Nigeria to nine. [9]

Mission Organized
Nigeria Aba Mission 1 Jul 2023
Nigeria Abuja Mission 1 Jul 2023
Nigeria Benin City Mission[10] 1 Jul 2013
Nigeria Enugu Mission 1 Jul 1992
Nigeria Ibadan Mission 1 Jul 1992
Nigeria Lagos Mission 1 Jul 1980
Nigeria Owerri Mission[11] 1 Jul 2016
Nigeria Port Harcourt Mission 1 Jul 1988
Nigeria Uyo Mission 1 Jul 2002

Temples

Temples in Nigeria
Red = Operating
Blue = Under Construction
Yellow = announced
Black = Closed for Renovations

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

Location:
Announced:
Groundbreaking:
Dedicated:
Size:
Style:
Aba, Abia, Nigeria
2 April 2000 by Gordon B. Hinckley
23 February 2002 by H. Bruce Stucki
7 August 2005 by Gordon B. Hinckley
11,500 sq ft (1,070 m2) on a 6.3-acre (2.5 ha) site
Classic modern, single-spire design - designed by Adeniyi Coker Consultants Limited
Location:
Announced:
Size:
Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria
7 October 2018 by Russell M. Nelson[12][13]
19,800 sq ft (1,840 m2) on a 2.7-acre (1.1 ha) site
Location:
Announced:
Size:
Benin City, Nigeria
5 April 2020 by Russell M. Nelson[14]
30,700 sq ft (2,850 m2) on a 2.17-acre (0.88 ha) site
Location:
Announced:
Eket, Nigeria
2 October 2022 by Russell M. Nelson[15][16]
Location:
Announced:
Calabar, Nigeria
1 October 2023 by Russell M. Nelson[17][18]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Facts and Statistics: Statistics by Country: Nigeria", Newsroom, LDS Church, retrieved 10 June 2023
  2. Excludes groups meeting separate from wards and branches.
  3. Category:Nigeria Family History Centers, familysearch.org, retrieved 10 June 2023
  4. "Deseret News 1985 Church Almanac: Country Information: Nigeria", Church News, Deseret News
  5. Wendall J. Ashton; Jim M. Wall, Deseret News, various years, Church Almanac Country Information: Nigeria
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Prince, Gregory A.; Wright, William Robert (2005). David O. McKay and the rise of modern Mormonism. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press. ISBN 0-87480-822-7.
  7. 1 2 Richard E. Turley Jr. and Jeffrey G. Cannon. "A Faithful Band: Moses Mahlangu and the First Soweto Saints". BYU Studies Quarterly. 55 (1).
  8. LDs Church Newsroom article on Nigeria
  9. Swenson, Madison (Nov 23, 2022), "Church Opening Six New Missions in 2023", KSL TV 5, retrieved January 13, 2023
  10. New mission presidents by area for 2013
  11. "Mormon Church announces in missions in Vietnam and Africa".
  12. "Twelve Temples Announced as October 2018 General Conference Closes: Number of temples operating, announced or under construction now above 200", Newsroom, LDS Church, 7 October 2018
  13. LDS Church announces plans to build 12 new temples worldwide, pioneer generation temples will be renovated, KSTU Fox 13, 7 October 2018
  14. "Prophet Announces Eight New Temples at General Conference: The Church will build its first temple in the Middle East", Newsroom, LDS Church, 5 April 2020
  15. "President Nelson announces 18 new temples, including 4 near Mexico City, as conference closes", Deseret News, Deseret News, 2 October 2022
  16. "The Church of Jesus Christ Will Build 18 New Houses of the Lord", Newsroom, LDS Church, 2 October 2022
  17. Where the 20 new Latter-day Saint temples will be built as Russell Nelson’s record tally continues to rise, Salt Lake Tribune, 1 October 2023
  18. "The Church of Jesus Christ Will Build 20 New Temples", Newsroom, LDS Church, 1 October 2023
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