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| Images of Jesus’ death on the Cross and a Mosque |
Before Nigeria was birthed, tribes in Nigeria had their various traditional beliefs, each different from one another before the arrival of British colonization which brought about the enactment of the religion Christianity and before the Islamic Jihadist enforced Islam conquered territories.
It is said that Christianity came to Nigeria in the 15th century through Augustinian and Capuchin monks from portugal. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Although the first mission of the church of England was, though, only established in 1842 in Badagry by Henry Townsend.
The spread of the Islamic religion in Nigeria dates back to the 11th century. Islam first entered Nigeria through Borno in the Northeast. It’s introduction was initially a peaceful process, mediated by Muslim clerics until the Fulani Jihad of 1804, organized by Usman Dan Fodio.
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According to Wikipedia, Peters Ake Abeokuta is the first church in Nigeria. History teaches us that when Christianity first came to what is now known as Nigeria through the Portuguese missionary, no particular church was established before they left.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); There are several old churches in ; The African church founded by Jacob Kehinde Coker in 1901, Christ Apostolic church founded by Joseph Ayo Babalola in 1931, Church of Nigeria established by Henry Townsend in 1841, Living Faith church worldwide founded by David Oyedepo in 1981 to mention a few.
Originally the Islamic religion was only in the Northern part of the country, progressively Islam came to Yoruba land and Muslims started building mosques. Shitta-Bey mosque named after financier Mohammad Shitta honored by Ottoman sultan with the title “Bey” was established in 1891 and its said to be one of the oldest in Nigeria.
These two religion, Christianity and Islam is widely accepted by Nigerians and is the most popular in Nigeria but other people stick to worshipping their gods and whatever it is they believe in, as Nigeria is a place for freedom of worship.
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