Jehovah’s Witnesses Around the World​—Nigeria

NIGERIA is wedged into the curve at the base of Africa’s western bulge. Situated on the Gulf of Guinea, it is just north of the equator and has more than 88 million inhabitants.a

During the past two service years, the Nigeria branch office of the Watch Tower Society has given special attention to the young. A survey in the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses showed that 80 percent of those who began preaching the good news in Nigeria during 1992 were between 10 and 20 years of age. Of those baptized during the year, 63 percent were of that age group.

Youths Reach Out to Pioneer

Many young people are entering the full-time preaching work as pioneers. A pioneer named Hannah says: “When I was about to finish school, I visited those attending the Pioneer Service School, where I met two elderly sisters. I thought to myself, ‘If those two can pioneer, why can’t I?’

“So after I finished school, I became a pioneer. Three months later I met 26-year-old Josephine, a juju worshiper. She said: ‘You Jehovah’s Witnesses are bad people. You do not celebrate Christmas or use charms.’ I answered that if she allowed me to study the Bible with her, she would learn why we do not practice those things. She invited me back. She soon began to attend meetings and made many changes in her life. In December 1990 she was baptized. Since August 1991, Josephine has been a pioneer. When she attended the Pioneer Service School last year, she introduced me to her classmates as her spiritual mother!”

The Video and the Kingdom Hall

One of the Society’s video recordings helped a small congregation to obtain land for a Kingdom Hall. Seeking to buy land, four brothers approached the Onojie, the area’s traditional ruler. He offered them a plot for 20,000 naira ($1,025, U.S.). The congregation could not afford to pay that much, since there were only 17 publishers to finance the project. The Onojie said he would think about another site.

Some months later, one of the congregation elders visited the Onojie’s residence. The Onojie was watching a video recording of his coronation. The elder said: “I have a video I would like you to see. It’s called Jehovah’s Witnesses​—The Organization Behind the Name.”

Later, the elder asked what the Onojie thought of the video. “I watched the film five times,” said the Onojie. The elder reminded the Onojie of the Kingdom Halls he had seen in the video and explained that the local congregation wanted to build something similar. He then asked if the congregation could purchase some land adjacent to a small plot it already owned. The Onojie replied: “Last night after watching the video, I thought of the same thing.” With that, he measured off 20 feet [6 m] of land next to the congregation’s property. “You can have this,” he said. “Lengthwise, you can take as much as you need. Prepare the documents, and I will sign them.”

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 9]

COUNTRY PROFILE

1993 Service Year

PEAK NUMBER WITNESSING: 174,582

RATIO: 1 Witness to 507

MEMORIAL ATTENDANCE: 473,245

AVERAGE PIONEER PUBLISHERS: 19,777

AVERAGE BIBLE STUDIES: 242,028

NUMBER BAPTIZED: 8,888

NUMBER OF CONGREGATIONS: 3,289

BRANCH OFFICE: BENIN CITY, EDO STATE