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Lagos Mainland Conference

UMEZURUIKE O. UCHEGBUE

Umezuruike O. Uchegbue The Mainland Conference of the Western Union Conference in the West-Central Africa Division comprises the , , Ifako-Ijaye, , , , Oshodi, and Shomolu Local Government Areas of .1 At the end of 2018, the conference had 7,531 members in 38 churches and 35 companies2 among a population of 5,724,083.3 Origin of Seventh-day Adventist Work in Lagos State Elder D. C. Babcock arrived in Lagos on March 7, 1914, a time when the need to evangelize the country with the Advent message was considered urgent. On this mission, Elder Babcock was accompanied by R. P. Dolphin and S. Morgue. After landing in Lagos, without delay, Elder Babcock was invited to establish his mission in Ibadan by the then chief. Babcock traveled into the interior of Yorubaland and settled in Erunmu, a town in what is today the Egbeda Local Government Area in Oyo State,4 a move that delayed the establishment of Seventh-day Adventist Church in Lagos until the 1920s. The Seventh-day Adventist Church began in Lagos State, Nigeria, in the 1920s with the Yaba Seventh-day Adventist Church.5 Yaba Seventh-day Adventist Church was the first Adventist church established in Lagos, and P. N. A. Cooker was the first convert. He later became a member of the Abule-Oja Seventh-day Adventist Church, the second church to be established in Lagos.6 The genesis of the church at Maryland and other parts of Lagos Mainland Conference territory today can be traced to a fellowship unit founded in 1974 by a handful of workers at the Nigeria Union Mission office, which is in Maryland. Due to traffic congestion, these workers found it difficult to go to the Yaba church every Sabbath. So, they began to worship in the compound of the office. Their first place of worship was the Voice of Prophecy office. In 1975, converts from an open-air campaign held at the Doleiman’s Victory High School joined the group in Maryland, which necessitated seeking a more spacious place for worship. Eventually, many more churches were established in different parts of today’s Lagos Mainland field.7 Establishment of Lagos Mainland Conference Lagos Mainland Conference started as an administrative unit. The three officers elected to lead the administrative unit were Pastor R. A. Akintunde (president), Pastor E. O. Adeniyi (executive secretary), and Elder A. B. Adedokun (treasurer). A special inauguration service for the unit was held on November 26, 2011, at the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Ogba, Ijaiye Housing Estate opposite the Women’s Development Center, Pen-cinema, Agege, Lagos. Shortly after the inauguration of the Lagos Mainland Administrative Unit, the president-elect, Dr. R. A. Akintunde, was called to rest. As a result of this unfortunate incident, the mantle of leadership fell on Pastor Adeniyi, who then doubled as the president and executive secretary of the administrative unit. Pastor Adeniyi and Elder Adeyemi Adedokun swung into action and successfully prepared the administrative unit for conference status, and during January 10–12, 2013, Lagos Mainland Administrative Unit was inaugurated into a full-fledged conference by North- Western Nigeria Union Mission officers led by the president, Pastor O. A. Owolabi, and the president of the West- Central Africa Division, Pastor Gilbert Wari.8 First Constituency Session of Lagos Mainland Conference The first constituency session of the Lagos Mainland Conference was held January 10–12, 2013, at the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Valley Side, Oregun, Lagos. The following officers, directors, and executive committee members were elected to pilot the affairs of the conference from January 2013 to December 2016. The officers were Pastor Emmanuel O. Adeniyi (president), Pastor Ibraheem A. Jimoh (executive secretary), and Elder Adeyemi B. Adedokun (treasurer). The directors elected to various departments included Michael F. Adekola (Sabbath School, Personal Ministries, and Evangelism), Samuel A. Adebayo (Publishing), Adebisi David Olajide (Ministerial Association and Family Ministries), Joseph Amechi F. Okorie (Youth Ministries, Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries), Victor Oyenuga (Strategic and Development), Dave I. Emelike (Communication), Paul C. Ananaba (Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, Legal Services), Olusola Adebiyi (Women’s Ministries), Kayode J. Akande (Adventist Men’s Organization), Kelechi Obiakwata (Stewardship and Trust Services), S. B. Babalola (Health Ministries), Chinwe Ikechi (Children’s Ministries), and Joseph O. Alao (Education).9 Second Constituency Session of the Lagos Mainland Conference The second constituency session of the Lagos Mainland Conference was held December 14–17, 2016, at the conference headquarters, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Ijaiye Housing Estate, Ogba, opposite Women’s Development Centre, Pen-Cinema, Agege, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. The following officers, directors, and Executive Committee members were elected to pilot the affairs of the conference from January 2017 to December 2020. The officers were Ibraheem A. Jimoh (president), Umezuruike O. Uchegbue (executive secretary), and Adeyemi B. Adedokun (treasurer). The directors included John Olajide (Youth Ministries); Oluseyi O. Akinola (Public, Campus, and Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries); Olusola Adebiyi (Women’s Ministries), John O. Amira (Adventist Men’s Organization), Kelechi Obiakwata (Stewardship, Planned Giving, and Trust Services), Dave I. Emelike (Communication), Joseph O. Alao (Education), Ugochineyere Ogudu (Health Ministries), Olujimi Aduranire Sofowora (Evangelism, Sabbath School, and Personal Ministries); Eze G. Alala (Public Affairs and Religious Liberty and Legal Unit), Esther Kelechi (Children’s Ministries), and Uche Amechi (Family Ministries). Other members of the executive committee were I. G. Maduegbuna, Maxwell Ufomba, Mrs. Ogunyemi, and Mrs. Dosumu.10 The Lagos Mainland Conference headquarters are located at Ijaiye Housing Estate, Opposite Women’s Development Centre Pen Cinema, Agege Lagos, Lagos State Nigeria11

SOURCES 2019 Annual Statistical Report: Advance Release of Membership Statistics by Division for 2018, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, 19, accessed October 10, 2019, http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Statistics/ASR/ASR2019A.pdf. Agboola, David. The Seventh-day Adventists in Yoruba Land: 1914–1964. Ibadan: Daystar Press, 1987. Lagos Mainland Conference Inaugural Constituency Session Program of Seventh-day Adventist Church. Lagos Mainland Conference Records, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. Second Quadrennial Constituency Session of Lagos Mainland Conference, December 14–18, 2016. Lagos Mainland Conference Records, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press, 2017–2019.

NOTES 1. “Lagos Mainland Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press, 2019), 412.? 2. 2019 Annual Statistical Report: Advance Release of Membership Statistics by Division for 2018, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, 19, accessed October 10, 2019, http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Statistics/ASR/ASR2019A.pdf.? 3. As of June 30, 2018. Seventh-day Adventist Online Yearbook, “Lagos Mainland Conference.”? 4. David Agboola, The Seventh Day Adventists in Yorubaland 1914–1964 (Ibadan: Daystar Press, 1987), 2.? 5. Ibid.? 6. Lagos Mainland Conference Inaugural Constituency Session Program of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Lagos Mainland Conference records, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria.? 7. Ibid.? 8. Ibid.? 9. First Lagos Mainland Conference Constituency Report, Lagos Mainland Conference records, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria; “Lagos Mainland Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press, 2017), 512.? 10. Second Mainland Conference Constituency Report, Lagos Mainland Conference records, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria; “Lagos Mainland Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press, 2018), 405; “Lagos Mainland Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (2019), 412.? 11. “Lagos Mainland Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (2019), 412.? encyclopedia.adventist.org is an official website of the Seventh-day Adventist World Church © 2020 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring , MD 20904 USA 301-680-6000