THE AMO PEOPLE AND THE SEVENTH-DAY
ADVENTIST CHURCH IN NORTHERN NIGERIA
The History
of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Northern Nigeria will
not be complete without the mentioning of the Amo as a
people group who happens to be one of the first converts
into the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Pastor John Jacob Hyde, the first
Seventh - day Adventist Missionary had arrived in Nigeria
from Sierra-Leone in 1930. Arriving at Ibadan he chose to go
to the Northern part of Nigeria thus arriving in Jengre in
the present Plateau state on the 9th of February
1931. With the permission of the Government authorities at
that time he established a medical clinic at Jengre. His
primary assignment on arrival was the building of a house
and the learning of the predominant local languages in the
area (Amo and Hausa).
Interestingly to note, Hyde on
arrival in Jengre met with four boys wearing monkey skins.
These boys were said to be coming from a single family ‘the
Kakwi’s family’ namely: Lamba later called Simon, Mayang
later called Filibus, Mallum later called Bulus and Samaila
all of the same father (Kakwi).
Another interesting young man
that joined them was Istifanus K. Dariya. All of these five
young converts became the first converts and all of them
from Amo people group. John Jacob Hyde, after working in
Jengre and its environs for about 6 years got his first 18
converts (including these 5 boys mentioned above) baptized
in 1936. Among them 14 were Amo speaking people and 4 from
other ethnic tribes.
Subsequently, the need for
missionary evangelists arose, and again the first to be
appointed as missionary evangelists were the young Amo
Coverts namely, Lamba Simon Kakwi, Mayang Filibus kakwi,
Mallum Bulus Kakwi and Samaila Kakwi. Most of them were sent
to villages predominantly of the Amo speaking people for
easy acceptability as the new faith was still at a nursery
stage. For example, Filibus Kakwi was sent to Babban Fadama
while Simon Kakwi remained at Kadamo. Since then, the Amo
speaking people group have continued to embrace the
Adventist message with all faith and strength.
From that time, the Amo people
continued to join the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and many
of them becoming Pastors and pioneer Pastors. Out of about
125 Adventist Pastors and Pioneers in both North East and
North West Conferences, the Amo Pastors and Pioneers are
about 55. Other ethnic tribes within the two Conferences
share about 70 Pastors and Pioneers. This is as a result of
the Love for truth by the Amo man. To find a good number of
Amo speaking people in a great number into the Seventh-Day
Adventist Church is not by accident, because the Amo man,
generally loves God and is eager to work in God’s vine yard.
By this high percentage in work force within the Seventh-Day
Adventist Church in the North will also suggest that this
same Amo people group form a higher percentage in terms of
membership of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the
Northern part of Nigeria.
WRITTEN BY: PASTOR Y. U. HARRY.