Year Book of Jehovah's Witnesses - Watchtower Archive

Yearbook 217
of Nigeria are putting forth a strenuous effort to
help the people of that country to learn the truth,
and many are turning a hearing ear toward it, hearkening
to the Word and believing.
A report of what has been done during the past
year has been sent in by the branch servant. The office
of the Society in Nigeria is located at Lagos, and this
office also looks after the work in Cameroun, Dahomey,
Fernando Po and Togo. Reports are also published
on these places, but it might be added that a ban has
been placed on the work in the French possessions to
stop Jehovah's witnesses from spreading the message
of the Kingdom. This matter has been taken up with
the officials, but we have had no success as yet in
having the ban lifted. The matter has now come to
the attention of the officials in Paris who care for the
interests of the colonial possessions, and it is hoped
that someday these governmental officials will see
that Jehovah's witnesses are doing a good educational
work among the people, teaching them how to live
properly. The reports follow.
A great work has been accomplished through the holding
of circuit and district assemblies country-wide. An assembly
in Nigeria is a delightful experience. The setting or environment
has a character all its own, for almost all assemblies
are held in booths constructed of bamhoos and
palm branches, often surrounded by graceful palms, banana
plants and rich vegetation. In some parts of the country
the brethren wear native costumes of the most gorgeous
colors and the gathering takes on the appearance of a beautiful
bed of flowers. At times public meeting attendances
reach staggering figurt's, for an entire town will turn out to
hear a lecture. At the Obiaruku assembly the brethren
numbered only about 300, while the publlc meeting attendance
was 4,G:!G. In one town a native king, who had previously
oppressed and persecuted the brethren, was deposed
and run out of town by the enraged populace because of his
corrupt rule. When the brethren came together for a circuit
assembly the chiefs handed over the vacated palace which
was used, not only for the assembly sessions, but also to
house many of the visitors.
The huge Mohammedan population, numbering considerably
more than ten million, continues dead and unresponsive