VICE PRESIDENT
5.2 Ethnic Groups that are Most Christianized and Most Prone to Pentecostalism
Adamawa were products of the new universities who had at high school been influenced by their Pentecostal teachers. They were young, energetic, and they zealously promoted the Gospel. In addition they were eloquent English-speakers and their command of the language added to their effectiveness.
The mainline churches did not seem prepared for the emergence of a new, highly educated and talented group of youngsters in Nigeria. The years 1970 to 1975 were characterized by the economic and educational transformation of Nigeria with many new schools at primary and secondary levels in every state and with seven new universities having been opened by 1975. The level of literacy was raised dramatically. Hence, the mass of Pentecostal literature from the USA and Europe could be read and readily understood at schools and universities. Meanwhile, the mainline churches were at a marked disadvantage, as mentioned earlier, because not enough English-speaking pastors had been trained. Pastors lacked the literacy levels and the communication skills to cope with a better educated congregation and, in fact, they found that, in terms of education, they had been left behind by many congregants.
The researcher found during field work in Adamawa State that in particular the younger people at the time had felt that their pastors were not well prepared for their tasks and communication was seriously hampered by their exclusive use of the vernacular. The establishment of a „Theological Education by Extension‟ (TEE) programme (still planned in the vernacular!), came too late to turn the tide. The youths were for the most part probably unaware that they were actually introducing a new strand of Christianity into Adamawa State.
They believed, as they clearly stated, that they were helping the evangelization of the state and that the mother churches stood to benefit from the programmes they set out to introduce.246
The NYSC scheme, discussed above, did achieve its professed objectives but unwittingly also aided the spread of Pentecostalism in Nigeria.
have embraced mainline Christianity. Here and there one finds still some traditionalists. Very few groups have converted in large numbers to Islam. The Christian ethnic groups now have Christian chiefs. Before the arrival of the British they have always managed to remain independent from the Fulani Emirs at Yola. Most Christianized are the Bwatiye (Bachama and Batta but the Bachama in particular), Chamba, Higgi, Marghi (Kilba, Bura and Marghi) Mbula, Lunguda, Yandang, Yungur, Bali, Bura, Bile and Ga'anda groups.
Among these, the Christian youths of the Bwatiye, Marghi, Mbula and Kilba, adhere more generally to Pentecostalism than the young members of other ethnic groupings. It is among the Bwatiye and Mbula, that classical Pentecostalism first took hold, in 1944 and 1962 respectively. (It is interesting to note that the Bwatiye were also the first to receive the Gospel in 1913 at Numan, after the Mbula apparently had rejected Christianity between 1909 and 1911. The Marghi received the Gospel in 1925, making them the first to do so in their region in northern Adamawa). These groups account for almost two thirds of the Christian population in Adamawa. In general their members belonged to mainline Christianity and their youths were brought up by parents who had received their instruction in Christianity from the Catholic, Lutheran and Brethren missions.
These same groups, the Bwatiye, Marghi and Mbula, turned out to be most inclined to converting to Pentecostalism and they have provided most of the leaders and founders of the new indigenous Pentecostal churches and movements in Adamawa. Several factors may have contributed to their prominent role in Pentecostalism, for example: The three ethnic groups had more youths enrolled in schools than any other group at the time that neo Pentecostalism was being introduced in Adamawa State.
The youngsters had relatives who were well educated because of their exposure to mission education. During school vacations they would visit their relatives in cities around Nigeria where those relations work. It is likely that in the cities they came into contact with Pentecostalism.
The three ethnic groups allowed their women at a very early stage to acquire western education. Most female university graduates in Adamawa belong to these ethnic groups.
Despite the contradiction between the adherence to traditionalism and modern education for women, the gain of Christianity is it ushered in a complex situation as regards the modern- traditionalist dilemma. The opening of a Girls Boarding School by the LCCN at Numan, a Provincial Girl‟s School by the colonial government at Yola and a Women Teachers‟ College by the Catholic church at Sugu, all in Adamawa along combined primary schools for boys and girls gave incentive to women education and yet women were expected to remain humble
and silent where men spoke. The arrival of modern education positively broadened the worldview of women in Adamawa state and also made them more independent in matters of faith.
The three ethnic groups maintained a strong belief in African traditional religion; they believed in spirits and held on to their totems. This is obvious from the way they maintain traditional shrines. It is prospective that their traditional background played a role in their conversion to Christianity and their religiosity or spirituality.
Also, the very fact that the mission churches have taken roots and have started translating portions of the bible especially the gospels, into local Adamawa languages as was being done in other parts of Nigeria at that time, many Adamawa indigenes and especially the enlightened youth; from the ethnic groups mentioned above started to:
Appropriate the message of the gospel according to their local worldviews, often breeding conflicts and disagreements. The African [Nigerian] worldview is [being]
intensely charismatic and alive. The gospel [which they heard] was interpreted in a lively manner and infused with many culturally relevant elements.247
This appreciation of their culture and traditional religion may have encouraged the demand of the youths for more spiritual answers to their problems and it could have inspired in them a belief that their parents had strayed from Christian tenets or, perhaps, that their parents could not break free from traditionalism. Having noted the syncretism evident among their people, the youth got attracted to the Pentecostalists who challenged syncretistic behaviour yet, what gave reason for the rapid growth of Pentecostalism in Adamawa is actually not too far from:
The emphasis on cultural appropriation of significant themes, and practices such as the use of indigenous music and language, emphasis on the activities of evil spirits such as witches and demons and the claim by the leaders to have power to deliver people from the influences of these baneful spirits and the active role of women as some even became church founders.248
The founders of Pentecostal churches and former leaders of the youth groups who are now more mature have confessed to youthful exuberance as one of the reasons for breaking away from mainline churches.
The non-Muslim clans of Adamawa were never fully subjugated by the Muslim Fulani of Yola continued in antagonism towards the Fulani. At the time the British and the Christian missionaries arrived in the region, the Fulani had certainly not extended their power
247Ukah, A. “African Christianities: Features Promises and Problems,” Arbeitspapiere/Working Paper Nr.79 Institut fur Ethnologie und Afrikastudien/Department of Anthropology and African Studies, Gutenberg Universitat, 2007, p.6.
248 Ukah, 2007. P.8.
and faith over the Bachama (the other half of the Bwatiye group), Mbula, Kanakuru, Lunguda, Chamba, Kilba, Yungur, Lala, Ga‟anda and Mummuye. All these peoples remained traditionalists and live within a hundred miles or so from Yola.249 This situation left them open to the new Christian faith that was to be introduced in the region at the beginning of the 20th century.