BISHOP SAMUEL AJAYI CROWTHER

 

BISHOP SAMUEL AJAYI CROWTHER .

Samuel Ajayi Crowther was born near Iseyin in Western Nigeria, and was captured and sold as a slave during wars in 1821. He was set free by the British Navy, and was educated at Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone. He was then made a minister in the Christian Church and went to western Nigeria as a missionary in 1843.  

He worked hard to spread Christianity, and also to develop education for Africans. Crowther produced the first Yoruba orthography (method of writing the sounds), and translated the Bible into Yoruba.  

In 1864 he became the first African Bishop of the Niger. Later, because of the strong racial and political feelings of colonial times, he had to resign, he is recognized today as one of the great African men of the Church.