The story we are about to tell here is a short biography of an uncelebrated, unsung first Baptist Deacon in Nigeria, Lewis Green Agbelusi, who was the surrogate father and mentor of the most celebrated African nationalist, Dr. Agbebi Mojola.

 Like the great, enigmatic Western Philosopher, Socrates, who is credited to be the founder of western philosophy, left no writings behind but is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students: Plato and Xenophon, the works of great church historians and religious writers on Dr. Mojola Agbebi unveiled the role played by his mentor and foster father, Lewis/Levi Green Agbelusi in his (Dr. Mojola Agbebi’s) life from childhood to adulthood. Our historical records about Dr. Mojola Agbebi, the most celebrated African nationalist and personified African personality of his time without any mention of his foster father will not only be incomplete and insufficient but also faulty and ruse. 

Who is Lewis Green Agbelusi?

Lewis Green Agbelusi (formerly known in missionary historical records as Levi Crane) was born at Oye-Ekiti in 1818. He was a cousin to an Anglican catechist, George Agbebi Vincent, the father of Dr. Mojola Agbebi, who also hailed from Oye-Ekiti, in the present Ekiti State. Just like what happened to some of the people of his time, at the age of thirty-eight years, 1856, Lewis Green Agbelusi was enslaved and brought to Lagos and became the property of Kosoko, a contender with Akintoye for the stool (chieftaincy and control) of Lagos (John David McGee, 2009). Two days before the birth of Dr. Mojola Agbebi, on the 8th of April 1860, Lewis Green Agbelusi was baptized (at the age of 42 years), one week after the formation of the Church, First Baptist Church, Lagos, by Rev. Joseph M. Hardin, a black American who was the son of freed slaves.

In 1866, when Dr. Mojola Agbebi was six years old, Lewis Green Agbelusi became his (Dr. Mojola Agbebi’s) foster father. According to McGee (2009):

In 1866, Agbelusi’s cousin (George Agbelusi Vincent), who was a native of Oye, Ekiti (p.3), and (at the time) an Anglican Catechist at Ilesha, brought his six-year-old son, David Brown Vincent (who, in 1893, changed his name to Mojola Agbebi), to live in Agbelusi’s home in Lagos, to escape from the scenes of idolatry and heathen, (p.37). Thus, in the home of his (Baptist foster father, Agbelusi, young Vincent (Mojola Agbebi) stayed until maturity. “attending schools of the Church Missionary Society, and attending the (First) Baptist Church on Sundays”(p.33). 

McGee writes further that:

In the capacity of deacon, Agbelusi became a strong supporter, in succession, in the establishing of three early churches in Lagos (p.15): First Baptist Church, where he was Nigeria’s first ordained deacon) (p.27); also, The Native Baptist Church, where he was identified as a foreman, (p.42), or Baba Egbe. (p.50). the Native Baptist Church was the first name given to this church when it separated from First Baptist, Lagos, and later became known in 1903, as Ebenezer, (p.41). Finally, he again followed and gave his support to Dr. Agbebi at Araromi. (Lagos), when this church was formed in 1903, when it broke away from The Native Baptist church (Ebenezer) (pp.51, 56).

The above quotations are necessary to give credence to the important role Agbelusi Lewis Green played in the life of Dr. Mojola Agbebi. To corroborate this, Bolaji said:

David Omojola was the son of an Anglican catechist at Ilesa, though he spent most of his formative years in the home of his father’s cousin named Lewis Green. As a devoted member of the Baptist Church, Green was committed to the evangelism of the denomination.

In 1876, Lewis Green Agbelusi was ordained at First Baptist Church, Lagos, as the first Baptist Deacon in Nigeria. In the words of John David McGee:

One week after the formation of the (First Baptist Church, Lagos) church, a deacon was set aside, the first in Nigeria. Lewis Green (know earlier as Levi Crane, and known later as LEVI GREEN AGBELUSI) was concluded worthy, and was ordained by the church… 

Before his death, Lewis Green Agbelusi followed his foster son, Agbebi Mojola to Araromi Baptist Church, Lagos. Agbelusi died on the 1st of October 1908, at the age of 90 years. No doubt, Lewis Green Agbelusi’s mentorship and fathership greatly influenced the spiritual life of his cousin’s son (Dr. Agbebi Mojola).

Notes & References

* “Levi and Lewis” will be used interchangeably here to mean the same person. Agbelusi was first called Levi Crane and later Lewis Green Agbelusi. Many writers used “Levi Green” or “Lewis Green”. For clarity, this writer used “Lewis Green Agbelusi” more often to mean the same person as “Levi Green Agbelusi”.

Bolaji, Y.O: Agbebi, Adeline Adeotan Sikuade 1862-1936  Dictionary of African  Christian Biography. 

Check C.F Roberson’s Historical Account.

John David McGee(2006): The Reminiscence (An Amazing Story) on Baptist Mission Work in Western Nigeria. This was contributed by Rev. & Mrs. John S. McGee (Published by SOLA ORESSON & ASSOCIATE, Church street, Agege, Lagos, Nigeria