Eastern Nigeria Union Conference

By Bassey E. O. Udoh

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Bassey E. O. Udoh

First Published: January 29, 2020

Eastern Nigeria Union is part of the West-Central Africa Division of the Seventh-day Adventist. Eastern Nigeria Union was organized in 2004 and reorganized in 2013 and 2015. It occupies the following territories: the Nigerian states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers. As of June 30, 2018, it had 679 churches, 148,317 members, and a total population of 41,956,425.1

The Eastern Nigeria Union Conference headquarters are at Abayi, Osisioma, Abia state, Nigeria.2

Background

The establishment, growth, and development of the Seventh-day Adventist mission in eastern Nigeria can be traced to the various missionaries from across the world who worked with local workers over the decades to bring the story of the Church to where it is today.

Elder David C. Babcock from the United State of America was the missionary who first brought the Seventh-day Adventist Church to Nigeria in 1914. He arrived in the country on March 7, 1914. The first place he settled and established a church was Erunmu in Oyo state in the same year.3

It was John Jacob Hyde who took the faith to northern Nigeria in 1932 and Jesse Clifford to eastern Nigeria in 1920. Nigeria Union Mission was reorganized into Eastern Nigeria Union Mission and Northern Nigeria Union Mission in November 2014.4 Eastern Nigeria Union Mission had five conference fields at inception,5 but now it has 12 conferences and two missions.6

The Seventh-day Adventist Church came to eastern Nigeria when Pastor Jesse Clifford first arrived at Abua, in Rivers state in 1920. He labored there, but in 1923 he settled in Aba which he made the headquarters of the work in the eastern region of the country.7

First Baptism and Expansion

The crossing over of Pastor Clifford from Abua to Aba soon led to the baptism of B. I. Tikili, who was the first convert of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in eastern Nigeria in 1923.8 The church has grown by spreading from the first four organized districts in the eastern region: Niger Delta area, Aba district, Umuocha district, Umuobiakwa district, and Umuakpara district, which were organized under the leadership of Pastor L. Edmonds to almost all parts of the present southeast and southern geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

Prior to the arrival of Jesse Clifford in 1920, there were small groups of indigenous Sabbath-keepers within the territory of eastern Nigeria.

Pre-Organization Work in Eastern Nigeria

Edmond Naku of Otari in Abua region served a prison sentence in Ghana (then Gold Coast). When he was released from prison in 1912, he returned to his hometown of Otari with the Adventist message. Full of passion and enthusiasm for the imminent return of Jesus Christ, he started witnessing to his newfound faith to his family and friends within the community. Soon he started a church.9 Later, Jesse Clifford decided to do a follow-up on his friend Edmond Naku. In 1915, he came to Nigeria through Port Harcourt and Bonny and traced him to the Otari community. It was a wonderful reunion for them and it strengthened the faith of Edmond. After this meeting, Jesse Clifford started preaching the Adventist message within the Abua region and later went to the Ahaoda area and then to Elele.10

While Jesse Clifford was at Elele, Pastor William McClement of Ireland, took charge of the work in western Nigeria in 1919. As a result of the growth in membership, the church headquarters in America became interested in the formal organization of the work in Nigeria. Nigeria Mission was organized by 1930, and William McClement became the first president. He moved to Accra in 1943 when the mission fields in West Africa were grouped into one administrative unit and he became the first president.11

The Cliffords Arrive in Aba

The Seventh-day Adventist Church was officially established in the eastern part of Nigeria in 1923 by Pastor Jesse Clifford of England. The sacrifice and effort of Pastor Jesse Clifford and his wife, Catharine, who made Umuola, Aba, the headquarters of their work, have yielded bountiful harvests as the church has spread to all the states in eastern Nigeria: Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers states.

Pastor Jesse Clifford and his wife arrived in Aba on May 1, 1923, from the Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire) where they had been serving as missionaries. Pastor William McClement was in charge of the Adventist work in Nigeria when Jesse Clifford arrived in Aba. Jesse Clifford came to Aba because of a report by Pastor McClement sent to church headquarters concerning religious unrest in Ibo land related to the Garrick Braide Movement and the burning of Juju. When they arrived in Aba, they found several small groups of Sabbath-keepers who were zealous about their Sabbath faith and needed someone to teach them more.12

Historical Development of the Eastern Nigeria Union Mission

The Eastern Nigeria Union Mission covers the nine states in the southeast and southern geopolitical zones of Nigeria, namely: Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers. Statistics of the field in Eastern Nigeria as of 2005 were as follows: churches, 429; membership, 130,860; population, 42,548,430.13

The first initiative for the reorganization of the church in Nigeria came from the four eastern fields in 1997 and was sent directly to the division. When the submission was returned to the union, a reorganization committee was set up on December 10, 1997,14 with the following as members: Pastor Gideon C. Nwaogwugwu (chair), Pastor Reuben C. Eti (vice chair), Elder Happy W. Abali (secretary), Pastor Matthias N. Olukaikpe (treasurer), Elder Hart Emereole, Pastor John E. Obot, Pastor Philemon O. Amanze, Dr. George Wigwe, Elder Edwin E. Owoto, Elder Maurice Ntekop, Pastor Valentine C. Onwubuariri, Elder Emmanuel O. Adaelu, Pastor Samuel A. Omerenyiya, and Mrs. Daboma Izeogu.15

The committee worked to schedule and compile the five-year (1993-1997) comparative financial statement for all the fields including the union and made a recommendation to the June 1998 midyear NUM executive committee which met at Bukuru, Plateau State.16 The recommendations were as follows: The desire for reorganization is in keeping with Church Policy.

  1. Those who fund appropriations within the church (GC and AID) are now saying they can no longer give appropriations to Local Missions and Union Missions.

  2. In the light of (a) above, either NUM first becomes a Union Conference and then reorganizes into two or more Union Conferences, or fields desiring to become unions will go straight into becoming Union Conferences.

  3. The request exposed our strengths and weaknesses. We have the membership but we must look into and improve our financial self-support, liquidity, and working capital in every field.17

During the December 1998 NUM yearend meeting at Akure, Ondo state, the division officers had a night-long meeting with NUM officers and all the field presidents in Nigeria. At that meeting, the division challenged the church in Nigeria to abandon the “Either… Or” recommendation of June 1998 and work towards becoming two union conferences simultaneously. It was only after several follow up visits by the division strategic planner that the NUM executive committee finally decided on July 8, 1999, to work towards achieving two union conferences in Nigeria. Consequently, a union mini-constituency meeting was held at Babcock University on December 18, 1999, where all fields chose which of the two proposed union conferences they wanted to belong to. The timetable for achieving the two union conferences in Nigeria was distributed by the division Strategic Planning Department at the NUM sixth Quinquennial Session held at the Adventist Secondary Technical College (ASTEC), Owerrinta Abia state in December 2000.18

Part of the strategic plan of WAD was for all the missions to gain conference status. Anambra-Imo was also to become a conference. In 2002, two missions, Edo-Delta and East Central, became conferences. Then in 2003, the remaining two missions, South East and North East, and Anambra-Imo achieved conference status. It was after the ten fields became conferences that the General Conference Survey Team visited Nigeria in January and August 2004.19

In order for the new union of the church in Nigeria to be birthed after evaluation and necessary guidance by the General Conference and West-Central Africa Division, a special session was called, in fulfillment of the policy provision of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria (Article V, Sec, 4 of Nigeria Union Mission Working policy). It was held at the Adventist Secondary Technical College in December 2004. The West-Central Africa Division summoned the seventh special session a year before the Quinquennial Session, following the authorization of the General Conference Annual Council on October 10, 2004, that the church in Nigeria be reorganized into two union missions.20

Eastern Nigeria Union Mission at the time of inauguration had five conferences, namely: East Nigeria Conference, Anambra-Imo Conference, East-Central Conference, Rivers Conference, and South-East Conference. The inauguration was on Sabbath, December 4, 2004, and the first special meeting was held on March 20, 2005.

First Districts, Pastors, Ordination, Converts, and Baptism in Eastern Nigeria

The first four districts in eastern Nigeria were Aba, Umuocha, Umuobiakwa, and Umuakpara, pastored by the following pastors as district leaders:

Aba District - B. I. Tikili

Umuocha - P. E. Onwere

Umuobiakwa - R. O. Wosu

Umuakpara - A. E. Ukaumunna

The organization of the first districts took place under the leadership of Pastor L. Edmonds who succeeded Pastor Jesse Clifford. B. I. Tikili was the first ordained African minister in Eastern Nigeria. Other indigenous pastors ordained in 1939 were P. E. Onwere and R. O. Wosu.

The first baptismal service took place in 1923 under the leadership of the first missionary Jesse Clifford. The early believers (Sierra Leoneans) and Mr. B. I. Tikili and two others were baptized by Pastor Clifford, and the first Aba area indigene baptized in 1924 was P. E. Onwere.21

First Mission Reorganization/Expansion in the Territory

The first reorganization was on January 1, 1971. The East Nigeria Mission was reorganized to become two missions, namely: East Nigeria Mission with headquarters at Aba, and Rivers/South East Mission with headquarters at Port Harcourt.

The first colporteur was A. W. Cook, as field missionary secretary in the year 1932. In 1935, Elder A. W. Cook left and Pastor A. J. Dickey became the first easterner to be appointed field missionary secretary (now publishing ministry director). In 1936, Mr. A. Nnata took over from Pastor A. J. Dickey.22

Health Facilities

The first medical work was the 60-bed Ahoada County Hospital operated by the East Nigerian Mission in 1957 and handled by Dr. Deshay. The hospital was taken over by the River State government on June 1, 1972.

On June 10, 1963, an agreement was signed between the Northern Ngwa County and the East Nigeria Mission to open a 20-bed hospital at Okpualangwa, some 20 miles from Aba, the mission headquarters. The signatories to the agreement included Chief Stephen Akwada Ahuchogu (chair, Northern Ngwa County Council) and T. J. Karkainem (treasurer, SDA Church, Aba) on behalf of the county and the mission.

From August 1963 to August 1965, the Okpualangwa Hospital admitted about 29,000 outpatients and 3,000 inpatients. Dr. S. A. Nagel Jr. was the hospital administrator.23

Inauguration of Eastern Nigerian Union Mission and its First Officers

On November 9, 2004, in Abidjan, the first workforce elected for the Eastern Nigeria Union Mission is as follows: Pastor Gideon C Nwaogwugwu (president), Pastor Bassey E. O. Udoh (executive secretary), Elder Emmanuel G. Manilla (treasurer), and Pastor Bassey E.O. Udoh (ministerial secretary). Members of the executive committee were: Gideon Chimeremeze Nwaogwugwu (chair), Bassey E. O. Udoh (secretary), Emeka Abaribe, Emmanuel O. Adaelu, Ugochukwu L. Ahiamadu, Adekunle A. Alalade, Alice Amadi, Comfort O. Amadi, Samuel W. Amadi, Kingsley C. Anonaba, Okorie C. Anyaogu, Festus N. Awuloha, Amarachi Chile, Uloma C. Emelogu, Nkereuwem J. Enang, Enyinna E. Enyinna, Charles O. Esonu, Emmanuel G. Manilla, Sibinus D. Mbonu, Maurice J. Ntekop, Kanelechi C. K. Nwangwa, Victor C. Nwosu, Robinson W. Nwuzor, Valentine C. Onwubuariri.24

Inauguration of the Eastern Nigerian Union Mission took place Sabbath, December 4, 2004. The mission was dedicated by Pastor Matthew A. Bediako, the General Conference secretary, assisted by WAD officers: Pastor Luka Tambaya Daniel (president), Pastor Gilbert Wari (secretary), Elder Ceazzar Hechanova (treasurer), and the field secretary for Strategic Planning/Development, R. Danforth Francis.25

During the General Conference Session at St. Louis Missouri, USA, held June 29-July 10, 2005, the Eastern Nigeria Union Mission was received and voted into the sisterhood of unions.26

At the yearend council of WAD held at Valley View University, Accra, Ghana, the three union officers—Pastor Gideon C. Nwaogwugwu, president; Pastor Bassey E. O. Udoh, secretary; and Elder E. G. Manilla, treasurer—were reelected for the next five years.27

Territory of ENUM (2001-2005) included five conferences: Anambra-Imo Conference, East Nigeria Conference (part of Abia and part of Rivers state), East Central Conference (Ebonyi, Enugu, and part of Abia state), Rivers Conference (Rivers and Bayelsa states), and South East Conference (Akwa Ibom and Cross River states). At the time of reorganization in December 2004, ENUM had 56 licensed pastors and a membership of 140,437.28

The ENUM leadership team worked hard in collaboration with the members in achieving union conference status. Considering its strategic growth and financial stability, workforce, and church membership, the Eastern Nigeria Union Mission attained union conference status in November 2013.29

As of 2018, the ENUM includes 12 conferences and two missions: Aba East Conference (formerly East Nigeria Conference, reorganized and renamed in 2013), Aba North Conference (formerly part of East Nigeria Conference, organized in 2013), Aba South Conference (formerly part of East Nigeria Conference, organized in 2013), Abia North-Central Conference (formerly East Central Conference, renamed in 2013), Akwa Ibiom Conference (formerly part of South East Conference, organized in 2015), Anambra Mission (formerly part of Anambra-Imo Conference, organized in 2015), Bayelsa Mission (formerly part of Rivers West-Bayelsa Conference, organized in 2015), Cross River Conference (formerly South East Conference, reorganized and renamed in 2015), Abonyi Conference (formerly part of Enugu-Ebonyi Conference, organized in 2015), Enugu Conference (formerly Enugu-Ebonyi Conference, reorganized and renamed in 2015), Imo Conference (formerly Anambra-Imo Conference, reorganized and renamed in 2015), Port Harcourt Conference (formerly Rivers Conference, reorganized and renamed in 2015), Rivers East Conference (formerly part of Rivers Conference, organized in 2015), and Rivers West Conference (formerly Rivers West-Bayelsa Conference, reorganized and renamed in 2015).30

Clifford University

Clifford University was established in November 2013 (government approved in 2016) to serve as a center for Christian education.31 It was named after Pastor Jesse Clifford who came as a missionary to Abua in 1920 and settled in Aba in 1923.32 Clifford University is the first denominational university in the history of Adventism in Nigeria to be single-handedly established by one union.

Healthcare Institutions

Eastern Nigeria Union Conference operates two major healthcare facilities: Seventh-day Adventist Hospital and Motherless Babies’ Home, Aba, Abia state, Nigeria, and Ubakala Adventist Health Centre, Aba, Abia state, Nigeria.33

List of Officers34

Presidents: G. C. Nwaogwugwu (2004-2010); Bassey Effiong Okon Udoh (2011-present).

Secretaries: Bassey Effiong Okon Udoh (2004-2010); Kingsley Chukwuemeka Anonaba (2011-2013); Moses Chidi Njoku (2014-present).

Treasurer: Emmanuel George Manilla (2004-present).

Sources

Adaelu, Emmanuel, “Let Us Rise and Build.” In the Program of Events for the Dedication of the Ultra-Modern Secretariat Building of Eastern Nigeria Union Conference Aba on December 23, 2012.

Babalola, David O. “Pastor Jesse Clifford in Eastern Nigeria” in Dayo Alao, 90 Years of Adventism in Nigeria, 1914-2004. Lagos: Communication/PARL Department of Seventh-day Adventist Church, 2004.

_____. Seventh-day Adventist Church – 100 Years in Nigeria: Centenary Celebration Lagos: 2014.

_____. Sweet Memories of Our Pioneers. Lagos, Nigeria: Emaphine Reprographics Limited, 2001.

Chioma, Silvanus N. “Introduction” in Dayo Alao, 90 Years of Adventism in Nigeria, 1914-2004. Lagos: Communication/PARL Department of Seventh-day Adventist Church, 2004.

Eastern Nigeria Union Conference 2018 Constituency Session Minutes, December 13-15, 2018. Eastern Nigeria Union Conference Records, Abayi, Osisioma, Abia State, Nigeria.

Minutes of NUM Executive Committee Meeting, 1998 Midyear Meeting. Bukuru: June 17, 1998. Eastern Nigeria Union Conference Records, Abayi, Osisioma, Abia state, Nigeria.

Nwaogwugwu, G. C. “For the Marble: The Eastern Nigeria Union Mission Story” Aba: ENUM Herald, July-September 2005.

Nyekwere, Dave. Medical Institutions of the Seventh-day Adventist in Southeastern Nigeria: An Instrument of Evangelism 1940-2000. Lagos, Nigeria.

Otari District Organization Program, Rivers West Conference, October 27, 2018. Rivers West Conference records, Abarikpo, Rivers State, Nigeria.

Secretary’s Report of the Seventh Reorganization Session, December 1-4, 2004. Eastern Nigeria Union Conference Records, Abayi, Osisioma, Abia State, Nigeria.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2019.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 2005-2019. Accessed October 1, 2019, https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Udoh, Bassey E. O. “Eastern Nigeria Union Mission: The Journey so Far.” Aba: ENUM Herald, July-September 2005.

_____. “In the Beginning” in Eastern Nigeria Union Mission 1st Quinquennial Report of ENUM. February 13-18, 2006, Eastern Nigeria Union Conference Records, Abayi, Osisioma, Abia State, Nigeria.

_____. “This Far by Faith: A welcome Address on the Dedication of the Secretariat of Eastern Nigeria Union Mission” in the Program of Events for the Dedication of the Ultra-Modern Secretariat Building of Eastern Nigeria Union Conference Aba on December 23, 2012. Eastern Nigeria Union Conference Records, Abayi, Osisioma, Abia State, Nigeria.

Notes

  1. “Eastern Nigeria Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2019), 390.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Sylvanus N. Chioma, “Introduction” in Dayo Alao, 90 Years of Adventism in Nigeria, 1914-2004 (Lagos: Communication/PARL Department of Seventh-day Adventist Church, 2004), 11.

  4. David O. Babalola, “Pastor Jesse Clifford in Eastern Nigeria” in Dayo Alao, 90 Years of Adventism in Nigeria, 1914-2004 (Lagos: Communication/PARL Department of Seventh-day Adventist Church, 2004), 34.

  5. Bassey E. O. Udoh, “In the Beginning” in Eastern Nigeria Union Mission 1st Quinquennial Report of ENUM February 13-18, 2006, 11, East Nigeria Union Mission records, Abayi, Osisioma, Abia State, Nigeria.

  6. “Eastern Nigeria Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2019), 390-395.

  7. Udoh, “This Far by Faith: A Welcome Address on the Dedication of the Secretariat of Eastern Nigeria Union Mission” in the Program of Events for the Dedication of the Ultra-Modern Secretariate Building of Eastern Nigeria Union Conference Aba on December 23, 2012, 15.

  8. Udoh, “In the Beginning,” 8.

  9. Otari District Organization Program, Rivers West Conference, October 27, 2018, Rivers West Conference records, Abarikpo, Rivers state, Nigeria.

  10. Ibid.

  11. David O. Babalola, Sweet Memories of our Pioneers (Lagos, Nigeria: Emaphine Reprographics Limited, 2001), 57.

  12. Ibid., 79.

  13. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, “East Nigeria Union Mission,” accessed September 26, 2019, https://www.adventistyearbook.org/2015.pdf.

  14. Silvanus N. Chioma, “Secretaries Report” in Report of the Seventh Reorganization Session, December 1-4, 2004, 45.

  15. Gideon C. Nwaogwugwu, telephone interview by author, July 16, 2019.

  16. Silvanus N. Chioma, Minutes of NUM Executive Committee Meeting, 1998 Midyear Meeting. Bukuru: June 17, 1998.

  17. Secretary’s Report of the Seventh Reorganization Session, December 1-4, 2004, 45.

  18. Ibid., 47.

  19. G. C. Nwaogwugwu, “For the Marble: The Eastern Nigeria Union Mission Story” Aba: ENUM Herald, July-September 2005, 6.

  20. Ibid., 14.

  21. David O. Babalola, Seventh-day Adventist Church – 100 Years in Nigeria: Centenary Celebration (Lagos: 2014), 34.

  22. Ibid.

  23. Dave Nyekwere, Medical Institutions of the Seventh-day Adventist in Southeastern Nigeria: An Instrument of Evangelization 1940-2000 (Lagos, Nigeria: Natural Prints), 75.

  24. Bassey E.O. Udoh, “Eastern Nigeria Union Mission: The Journey so Far” Aba: ENUM Herald, July-September 2005, 16.

  25. Nwaogwugwu, 14.

  26. Udoh, “In the Beginning,” 11.

  27. Nwaogwugwu, 14.

  28. Udoh, “In the Beginning,” 12-16.

  29. Eastern Nigeria Union Conference 2018 Constituency Session Minutes, December 13-15 2018, 15-16, Eastern Nigeria Union Conference records, Bayi, Osisioma, Abia State, Nigeria.

  30. “Eastern Nigeria Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (2019), 390-395.

  31. See Clifford University in this encyclopedia.

  32. Emmanuel Adaelu, “Let Us Rise and Build” in the Program of Events for the Dedication of the Ultra-Modern Secretariat Building of Eastern Nigeria Union Conference Aba on December 23, 2012, 17.

  33. “Eastern Nigeria Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (2019), 390.

  34. “Eastern Nigeria Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, years 2005-2019, accessed October 1, 2019, https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

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Udoh, Bassey E. O. "Eastern Nigeria Union Conference." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 29, 2020. Accessed February 18, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=1B83.

Udoh, Bassey E. O. "Eastern Nigeria Union Conference." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 29, 2020. Date of access February 18, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=1B83.

Udoh, Bassey E. O. (2020, January 29). Eastern Nigeria Union Conference. Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved February 18, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=1B83.