The Writings and Legacy of J. F. Ade Ajayi

This chapter focuses on the writings of Professor J. F. Ade Ajayi. It examines his pioneering work as one of the African historians of the nineteenth-century introduction of evangelical Christianity to Africa. His research highlighted the role of Christian mission and the Church in the emergence of modern Africa. Professor Ajayi’s research emphasized the role of Africans in mediating this significant globalizing cultural religious force and in adapting it to local needs and end, especially in West Africa and particularly in Nigeria. His studies highlighted how the Christian missions recruited Africans and depended on African agency to maintain viability at all. His research demonstrated how church-trained African elite broke loose from Mission political stranglehold to either create African churches or Africanize mission Christianity. He revealed their role also in establishing schools, all of which led to them rather than the Europeans being the real leaders of the project that spread Christianity and Western education among Africans of the region. Ajayi’s research on this theme demonstrated the significant agency and mastery that the Africans elite demonstrated over their own fate, mastering the new forces from across the sea and adapting these to their advantage.