This study covers the first fifty-five years (1875-1930), of the work of the Church Missionary Society (hereafter referred to as Anglican Mission), in Asaba and its hinterland. The period under survey witnessed the foundation, growth and subsequently maturity of the Mission. Begun in 1875, by the terminal date of this study Asaba (with other Districts of the Niger Mission) had become the Church of the people with its own ecclesiastical constitution. The work begins with an account of the primal society of Asaba and its hinterland as the missionary agents saw it in the nineteenth century. The points examined here include: traditions of origin of the people, their early contacts with other peoples, their traditional religion, social organization, and their relationship with the Royal Niger Company which was both a trading and governing firm that made Asaba its headquarters. The foundation and initial growth is discussed next, in the Second Chapter, while the Third Chapter considers the processes by which the mission evolved into an indigenous Church. This last point is examined in relation to the propagation of the Gospel, self-support and church organization. In the mission field itself, among the factors that affected the work of Anglican agents two are outstanding. The first, a missionary factor, is the rivalry with the Roman Catholic Mission. The second, a product of the environment, is the Ekumeku resistance movement. Chapter Four attempts to trace the historic origins of the Protestant-Catholic rivalry as Asaba, while Chapter Five takes up the study of the influence of the Ekumeku wars on missionary operation. Chapter Six explores the Christian and western impact on Asaba society. Some facets of the pre-Christian social institutions are discussed. They include traditional titles, slavery, burial customs and the primal concept of the 'sacred'. This is followed by a consideration of the changes brought about by the Christian evaluation of these. The work is concluded with the identity and nominal role of the Apostles of Asaba. This is the subject of Chapter Seven.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:593245 |
| Date | January 1985 |
| Creators | Onyeidu, Samuel Onwo |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk/R?func=search-advanced-go&find_code1=WSN&request1=AAIU044238 |
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