Ogboni founder, among the earliest Christians in Lagos

By Florence kalu

As early as Christianity got rooted in Lagos around 1842, the founder of the Ogboni fraternity Rev. Jacobson Ogunbiyi was among the earliest converts  in the Anglican Church.

Jacob the son of Chief Ashogbon of Ebute-Ero, Lagos who sent him to the CMS Grammar School, Lagos to  prepare him for mission work,

The young Jacob went to school against his wish as he had wanted to be either a carpenter or tailor.

Young Jacob eventually opted to train as a printer, and his father agreed, hoping this would improve his reading, leading to a clerical occupation.

As a printer, he was trained by R. B. Blaise.From there, his interest in mission work was elicited, he was admitted to the CMS Training institution. After his training, he was sent to Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone to read Theology. On his return to Nigeria, he became active in the church and in the social environment.

At the age of 51, he founded the the Reformed Ogboni Fraternity (ROF) in 1917 as a measure to marry the traditional Ogboni with the orthodox Christian establishment which had excommunicated members who belonged to the Ogboni.

He was appointed an Archdeacon of Lagos in the fraternity in 1921, and in this capacity, habing wielded both spiritual and political .influence in Lagos, in 1936, he was appointed into the Legislative Council of Nigeria in Lagos to represent Lagos colony division.