Church and transformational development: The Seventh-day Adventist Church and its missiological orientation in democratic Nigeria by OLUGBENGA ADETOKUNBO EFUNTADE submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY IN MISSIOLOGY WITH SPECIALISATION IN URBAN MINISTRY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: Prof I SWART AUGUST 2019 DECLARATION Student Number: 55736653 I, Olugbenga Adetokunbo Efuntade, declare that CHURCH AND TRANSFORMATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH AND ITS MISSIOLOGICAL ORIENTATION IN DEMOCRATIC NIGERIA is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. 2 August 2019 ________________________ _____________________ SIGNATURE DATE Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... i Dedications ............................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... iv Abbreviations and acronyms...................................................................................................... v Chapter 1 Introduction to the study ..................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background and rationale ................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Research problem and objectives .................................................................................... 6 1.3 Research design and methodology .................................................................................. 8 1.4 Relevance of the study .................................................................................................... 9 1.5 State of research and literature review .......................................................................... 12 1.6 Limitations of the study ................................................................................................. 18 1.7 Ethical considerations ................................................................................................... 19 1.8 Chapter outline .............................................................................................................. 19 Chapter 2 A brief history of Nigeria’s political and democratic development .............. 23 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 23 2.2 Nigeria’s political and democratic development ........................................................... 23 2.2.1 The pre-colonial era ................................................................................................ 24 2.2.2 The colonial era and the movement toward independence .................................... 26 2.2.3 The post-colonial era .............................................................................................. 30 2.2.3.1 Period of tension after achieving independence.............................................. 31 2.2.3.2 The Biafran war............................................................................................... 32 2.2.3.3 Post-civil war and development failure .......................................................... 32 2.2.3.4 Efforts towards restoration of a short-lived democracy .................................. 33 2.2.3.5 Military rule and the struggle for a return to democracy ................................ 35 2.2.3.6 Democracy reintroduced ................................................................................. 41 2.2.4 State creation as a strategy for development .......................................................... 47 2.3 A brief history of religion in Nigeria ............................................................................ 51 2.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 54 Chapter 3 The Seventh-day Adventist Church and Christian mission in democratic Nigeria ........................................................................................... 55 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 55 3.2 Genesis of the Seventh-day Adventist Church .............................................................. 56 3.3 Becoming a missionary church ..................................................................................... 61 3.4 The administrative and governing structure of the Seventh-day Adventist Church ......................................................................................................... 65 3.5 Becoming a missionary church in Africa ...................................................................... 68 3.5.1 West Africa ............................................................................................................. 68 3.5.2 North-East Africa ................................................................................................... 69 3.5.3 Southern Africa ...................................................................................................... 70 3.6 Seventh-day Adventist mission in Nigeria .................................................................... 71 3.6.1 Western Nigeria as springboard ............................................................................. 71 3.6.2 Seventh-day Adventists in eastern Nigeria............................................................. 74 3.6.3 Seventh-day Adventists in northern Nigeria .......................................................... 74 3.7 The Seventh-day Adventist mission and socio-economic development in Nigeria: a historical review ....................................................................................... 76 3.8 The SDA Church and national development aspirations .............................................. 79 3.8.1 Seventh-day Adventists and education in Nigeria.................................................. 79 3.8.2 Adventist Relief and Development Agency operations in Nigeria ........................ 81 3.8.3 Adventist World Radio and social change ............................................................. 83 3.8.4 Adventist health services in Nigeria ....................................................................... 84 3.9 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 89 Chapter 4 Transformational development as mission: Challenge to the Nigerian church ................................................................................................................. 91 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 91 4.2 Nigeria’s developmental strategies: a historical overview ............................................ 91 4.2.1 Pre-independence development plans .................................................................... 93 4.2.2 The post-independence development plans ............................................................ 93 4.2.3 National development strategies in post-military Nigeria ...................................... 96 4.3 The morality challenge in the successful implementation of national development policies ......................................................................................................................... 98 4.4 Toward understanding of the concept of development ............................................... 100 4.5 Transformational development: a response of faith .................................................... 104 4.6 Mission and transformational development ................................................................ 111 4.6.1 Mission as transformation .................................................................................... 112 4.6.2 Transformation as mission ................................................................................... 114 4.7 Ecumenical movement and national development in Nigeria ..................................... 116 4.8 Exploring potentials in the SDA Church and ecumenism for national transformation .............................................................................................. 117 4.9 The Seventh-day Adventist Church and national transformation ............................... 120 4.10 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 123 Chapter 5 Case study: The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria – an empirical perspective ......................................................................................................... 124 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 124 5.2 Methodology and description of sample ..................................................................... 125 5.3 SDA members’ perception of the church’s identity and mission ................................ 127 5.4 Evaluation of the SDA Church’s mission ................................................................... 130 5.5 SDA mission and the Nigerian