Christian Missions and Economic Empowerment of the People of Cross River State, Nigeria, 1885-1960

Abstract

The nineteenth century Christian missionary activities in Cross River State as in other parts of Nigeria were mainly targeted at evangelisation of the people. Christianity has become the dominant religion in Cross River State and the people believe that it is a religion of civilisation and development. The resultant effect of different positions of some scholars is that colonialism has become a stigma for Christianity in contemporary times. To this extent, missionary work in Africa will continue to attract stringent and critical historical examination. It will however be intellectual dishonesty to write off the positive results of missionary work in Cross River State. This paper therefore, examines the contributions of missionary work in empowering the people of Cross River State from 1885 to 1960. The research adopted historic-structural approaches using primary and secondary sources. This includes qualitative interviews and books and journals. The findings of this research show that modern medical practise, theological education as well as education generally, skills acquisition, poverty alleviation and attention to the vulnerable such as children, orphans, widows, the sick and the elderly, through appropriate influence on negative traditions are some of the areas where missionary work has impacted positively on the people. It concludes that the Christian Missions contributed tremendously to the economic empowerment and enlightenment of the people of Cross River State of Nigeria.