Bishop Crowther Project

06/02/2026

Students in Nigerian public schools in the 1970s-80s first learned about Bishop Ajayi Crowther in this 'blue book'.

Did you ever encounter this text book? Which other historical personalities do you remember reading about within its pages?

29/03/2025

Earlier today in the course of screening of our documentary film “Mission to Osoogun” at iREP.

29/03/2025

Here is a sneak peep of the introductions to the Documentary Film by our own Pelu Awofeso

29/03/2025

We are excited about our documentary in honour of Bishop Ajayi Crowther’s Crowther’s contribution to our history, “Mission to Osoogun" which has been selected for the iREP Film Festival 2025 🎬✨ is being screened today, 29th March, 2025.
Time is 11:30a.m and the Venue is Freedom Park, Off Broad Street.

We invite you to join us for this incredible opportunity to explore the life and legacy of one of Nigeria's most influential figures.

See you at the festival! 🎉

19/01/2025

"Late Crowther, a pivotal figure in Nigeria’s missionary history and a distinguished Yoruba linguist, was born in Osogun, now known as Ado-Awaye, in Oyo State."

The documentary project began in June 2022.

17/01/2025

We are in the news.

Journalist Pelu Awofeso has unveiled the trailer for Mission to Osoogun, a documentary detailing the life of Ajayi Crowther, the first African Anglican bishop of West Africa. Awofeso, who directed and wrote the film, released the trailer on Youtube on Friday. The documentary chronicles Crowther’s ...

17/01/2025

Warm new year greetings to all our followers here.

We've just completed a new episode of the Crowther documentary series. Titled “Mission to Osoogun”, you can watch the trailer at the link below.

https://bit.ly/3E7iPxS

This installment is based on our visit to Osoogun, Crowther's hometown, where he and dozens of others were taken as slaves in 1821. Incidentally, we made that trip in June 2022 – roughly 200 years after this incident.

We met with elders of the town, including the Baale and the Balogun, who showed us around some of the landmarks connected with that fateful day in 1821.

The highlight of our trip was visiting the home of Crowther’s parents. Shockingly, what used to be a bustling community of 12,000 people (some sources say 3,000), enclosed by a wall and five gates, is now deserted and desolate. It is now a cornfield, more or less.

Today (17 January) is an important date in Crowther’s life. It was on this day in 1845 when the 36-year-old Crowther -- with his family and other missionaries -- arrived in Badagry for what would be his life-long dedication to missionary evangelism and selfless service to humanity.

Going forward, we’ll have more updates here and on our other social media accounts. Thank you for your continuing interest in this project.

Signed
Pelu Awofeso
Project Director

11/08/2024

"At the beginning of the 19th century, many of the slaves gathered at Sierra Leonne had been carried away from the Yoruba country...About the year 1840, many of them had become Christians and traders on their own account and returned to the land of their birth. Missionaries were invited to go there, and stations were accordingly established..."

Source: The Red Book of West Africa (1920)



Picture: The Rest House at Ota, Ogun State, SW Nigeria—this picture was taken in 2022 when our team visited.

28/07/2024

Two cities associated with Bishop Crowther: can you name them, using the buildings as clues?

05/01/2023

The man whose life work has preoccupied us, over the past 14 months, died 131 years ago -- on 31 Dec 1891.

He was buried hours later, on 1 January 1892.

He was 82 and devoted at least 60 years of his life to his work as an African missionary.

To commemorate the anniversary of his passing, we thought to share with you how he died, and the weeks leading up to it.

Expect more from us about this project throughout the new year!