Nigerian Baptist Convention

This entry about the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), a Christian denomination (evangelical protestant) which began with membership in South-Western part of Nigeria and has since spread to the North Central, North Western, North Eastern, South-Southern and South-Eastern Part of the country. The group is divided into at least 35 Baptist Conferences across all the 6 geopolitical zones in the country with several sub-divisions referred to as Baptist Associations. These Baptist Conferences and Associations are spread across all the states in the country. The Nigerian Baptist Convention began in 1914 with the appellation "Yoruba Baptist Association" which later metamorphosed into the Nigerian Baptist Convention. Although the Convention has its largest membership in South-Western Nigerian states (Such as Oyo, Osun, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti States); large membership are still recorded in the South-Southern and Northern regions (such as Delta, Edo, Rivers, Kaduna, Plateau, Niger and Kogi States). There are over 13,000 local congregations that makes up the Nigerian Baptist Convention. The Nigerian Baptist Convention has extended her mission efforts beyond the shore of Nigeria to countries like Cote D'Ivoire, Benin Republic and the United Kingdom. The Nigerian Baptist Convention is committed to theological education with at least 10 theological institutions for the training of gospel ministers. Her commitment to secular education is also evidence in the presence of hundreds of Baptist primary and secondary schools all over the country (owned by the Convention, the Conferences, Associations and local churches). The Schools of Nursing and the Bowen University owned by the denomination provides tertiary education in different academic fields. There are at least 10 medical facilities owned by the Nigerian Baptist Convention spread across the country that provides medical services for people. The Nigerian Baptist Convention believes in the following distinctive: the Bible as sole authority for faith and practice, autonomy of the local church, priesthood of all believers, baptism and the Lord's supper as the two ordinances of the church, individual soul competency, separation of church and state, the office of pastor and deacon as the two recognized offices of the denomination. The Denomination is a member of a larger Christian body in Nigeria referred to as Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The denomination has a worshiping community of over 8 million people making it the second largest Baptist Convention Affiliating with the Baptist World Alliance. The denomination holds her delegate Convention yearly in the month of April. The office headquarters of the denomination is situated in Ibadan, Nigeria. Rev. Dr. Israel Adelani Akanji is the current President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention.