THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN OGIDI, 1892-1992

Abstract

The advent of the Anglican Church in Ogidi in 1892, undoubtedly, turned everything around positively for the people and thereby created an immense opportunity for social, political and economic growth of the town. Using qualitative methodological approach, this paper attempts to investigate the contributions of the Anglican Church in Ogidi, between 1892 and 1992. It adopts the use of several sources of information which cut across primary and secondary sources to capture the contributions of the Church in different sectors of Ogidi. The findings of the paper reveal that the Anglican Church brought not only the Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, but also social and political reforms, Western education, modern medical services, economic development, and other social services. This study also identifies that from 1892 to 1992, the Church penetrated the four quarters of Ogidi with the Anglican brand of Christianity; established Churches and schools in each quarter, established Iyi-Enu Hospital, provided white-collar jobs for some of the early converts; reformed the political system and facilitated the abolition of some obnoxious cultural and traditional practices in the town. It concludes that the contributions of the Anglican church in Ogidi, between 1892 and 1992 led to the political and economic growth of the town, human capital development, emergence of an elite class of people and the elimination of some superstitious beliefs through western education and modern medical services.