Emergence and Impact of Christian Missionaries in Igboland

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Introduction
The development of Adazi Region in Anambra state, can be owned to different factors which include the people’s effort, government etc, though it is crystal clear that the key and the major source of the development which we see today in  Adazi is the Christian missionaries. In this paper, we shall discuss in details the emergence and impact of the Christian missionaries in Adazi. To achieve this, we shall look into the emergence of the Christian missionaries in west Africa, Nigeria, Igboland, and finally in Adazi, after which we shall equally examine its impact and the role in the development of  Adazi.

HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES IN NIGERIA, IGBOLAND AND ADAZI
The incursion of the missionaries into the west African coast can be traced to about the 15th century. This was pioneered by the Portuguese, basically henry the navigator, who was the principal initiator. However, it was not successful, as their primary aim was not evangelization.[1]

In the eighteenth century, there was a second incursion of the missionaries in the soil of Africa, with Nigeria not exempted. This second attempt was more successful than the first. This was simply because, according to history, there was a great evangelical awakening in the 18th century, and the abolition of slave trade. Some of the freed slaves, who were already Christians equally played a great role in the spread of Christianity in Africa.[2]

The Igbos in Sierra Leone, just like their Yoruba counterparts, retained a strong interest in their homeland and especially in its Christianization. In the early 1850s, some of them petitioned the bishop of Sierra Leone to establish missions in Igboland. Consequently, a party of three prominent Igbo citizens, led by the first black American college graduate, Rev. E. Jones, visited Nigeria, but they were prevented by circumstances from entering Igboland. Several years later, the project came to fruition, when the first Christian mission in Igboland was established at Onitsha, in 1857, under the leadership of J. C. Taylor. [3]
That same year, 1857, bishop Samuel Crowther successfully established the church missionary society (Anglican) in Onitsha. He saw Onitsha as the high road to the heart of the Igbo nation and, as such, worthy of being the springboard for starting the evangelization of the Igbos. The successful establishment of the Anglican mission was followed in 1885, with the establishment of a roman catholic mission in the same region. With the arrival of Fr. Joseph Emile Lutz, a French Holy Ghost priest, and his companions and the subsequent establishment of the roman catholic church.[4]
The spiritual odyssey of the catholic church in eastern Nigeria began with the erection of the first place of worship in Onitsha, called Holy Trinity Church.  From Onitsha, Christian missionary activities expanded to different towns and villages in Igboland. Notable early missionaries to Igboland represented the following denominations; Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Methodist.[5]
Adazi
The actual history of the evangelization of Adazi, came through that of Awka Diocese. The evangelization of Awka, began when Fr. Albert Bubendorf (French priest) joined the missionary team in January 1890. He joined Fr. Lutz to bring the Catholic faith to Aguleri (May 28, 1890) from where it spread to outstations like Nsugbe (March 21 1892) and Nteje (November 1907). While resident at Nteje, Fr. Bubendorf and his team began to evangelize Nimo as far back as 1911. A mission was established at Adazi the following year, 1912, when Chief Orjiakor welcomed Fr. Bubendorf and Brother Joseph.[6]

Impact of the Christian missionaries in Adazi
The impact of the early Christian missionaries in Adazi is enumerable. We shall consider the basic ones.
Hospital facility. Prior to the coming of the Christian missionaries to Adazi, many of our people die of sicknesses or suffer it for a very long time, that recovering from it becomes a miracle. Some of these diseases and sicknesses our people suffered are sometimes attributed to the deeds of the ancestors or the deeds of the person, or punishment from the oracle etc. with the coming of the early missionaries, St Joseph hospital was built, many lives were saved, and our people were sensitized that some of those sickness we attribute to have come from our ancestors, oracle etc. actually has names and are curable.
Abolition of Ogbanje. Our people believed in what we call Ogbanje, that is a child coming into the world to see how the world is, enjoy small, suffer his/her parents and go back to the other world. These children we believe doesn’t stay above 10years. Some families experience it, children are born, before they get to 10years they die, the family keep appeasing the gods and doing a lot of fetish things to remedy the situation. The Christian missionaries brought an end to this by the introduction of child immunization.
Abolition of the killing of twins: our people believed in the killing of twins, this is simply because the oracle and the mouth piece of the oracles we had condemned twins right from our ancient times. Goats, chickens and other animals can have twins, but the gods destined man to have just a child at ones, anything other than that are not from the gods, but from the evil forces, and have to be eliminated and returned back to the evil forest where it is believed to have come from. having twins was seen as a bad omen and a sign of disaster. The Christian missionaries brought an end to this by enlightening our people, that having twins is a blessing and a gift from God.
Abolition of Osu. Osu are those who ran to the oracle for protection, this may be because they feel their life is in danger or because they feel threatened. When one runs to the oracle for protection, he becomes a property of the oracle, and thereby cease to belong to the human family. He/she will have no dealings with the people, he can’t mix up with the people or buy or sell, or stay with the people or even his family. He is totally exclaustrated from the people, and will have to live alone in the forest or in a lonely area. It doesn’t end there, his children, grandchildren and generation still belong to that one same family of osu, and are so much avoided, no matter how good they are. The Christian missionaries did a great job in breaking that believe and conception. Today in Adazi, there is nothing like osu again, everybody live together happily, this is one of the great impact of the Christian missionaries.
Establishment of schools: The Christian missionaries built and established learning centers in Adazi, basically Bubendurf Memorial Grammar School. These brought about the age of enlightenment in Adazi, my father equally benefited from that. He is  an educated man today simply because of the school built by the missionaries. This school built by the missionary in Adazi, reduced the rate of illiteracy to a great extent, and that brought further development in Adazi region.
Christian faith: The faith which the missionary induced in our people brought about a great change. It greatly reduced a lot of fetish practices of our people, superstitious beliefs, and it brought about good moral standards in Adazi region.

Conclusion.
From the above discussions we have been able to see the emergence and impact of the Christian missionaries in Adazi, it is clear that that Adazi is what it is today as a result of the activities and role of the Christian missionaries. If not for the missionaries, Adazi region might still be in darkness.








REFERENCE

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/12/125-years-of-catholic-church-in-eastern-nigeria/
http://www.dacb.org/stories/nigeria/taylor_jc3.html

https://books.google.com.ng/books?id=cPBPA6S_sTcC&pg=PA45&dq=HISTORY+OF+CATHOLIC+CHURCH+IN+IGBO+LAND&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjqt_bG0oHUAhXPPFAKHWSsAaoQ6AEIITAA#v=onepage&q=HISTORY%20OF%20CATHOLIC%20CHURCH%20IN%20IGBO%20LAND&f=false

http://www.awkacatholicdiocese.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=83&Itemid=628

[4] https://books.google.com.ng/books?id=cPBPA6S_sTcC&pg=PA45&dq=HISTORY+OF+CATHOLIC+CHURCH+IN+IGBO+LAND&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjqt_bG0oHUAhXPPFAKHWSsAaoQ6AEIITAA#v=onepage&q=HISTORY%20OF%20CATHOLIC%20CHURCH%20IN%20IGBO%20LAND&f=false
[5] ibid

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