By Michael Edo
Jehovah’s witness centenary anniversary was celebrated to commemorate her one hundred years of existence in Nigeria.
The religious group came to Nigeria in 1921 and was led by a Christian missionary named Claud Brown. The phenomenal Christian movement right from inception has a trademark of aggressive evangelism yet subtle in approach.
In 1923, William Brown arrived to continue with the mandate of evangelism. He was preferred to be on the street preaching and teaching the Bible. His emphasis on the importance of the Bible earned him the sobriquet ” Bible Brown”.
The theme of the three-hour centenary event was ” 100 Years of Courage! Jehovah’s witness in Nigeria.
The highlights of the event were the activities of the early beginnings of the religious group in the country from 1921, the challenges and obvious persecution encountered while carrying out the task of evangelism.
The program highlighted different metamorphoses of the religious group; “1921-1946: Small Beginnings; 1947-1972: Standing Firm Under Test; 1973-1979: Period of Increase and 1998-2021: Courageous Stand in Modern Times.”
As part of the activities to mark the event, a documentary that highlighted the pioneering roles played by Claud Brown and William Brown was shown.
The documentary also highlighted the construction of what has been referred to as the first Kingdom Hall in Ilesha in the then Western Nigeria, now Osun State in 1935.
The highpoint of the event was a virtual Exhibition Tour, including the Construction of the first Nigerian branch Office in Shomolu Lagos in 1956 and the first convention in Benin City in 1958.
Other landmark achievements were the steady growth of the faith in Nigeria, including the translation of the Bible and other Bible-based publications in many Nigerian languages, commencement of four-colour prints since 1990 and the 2021 Report on Nigerian, which puts the total number of Witnesses in Nigeria at over 400,000.
The event was climaxed by a Bible-based talk titled “Maintain Your Courage into the New World.”
