It was another historic moment on Wednesday, 26th November 2025 in the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, as the Primate of all Nigeria, The Most Rev’d Dr. Henry Ndukuba inaugurated the Diocese of Oyo South as the 167th Diocese in the Church of Nigeria at the Pro-Cathedral Church of St. John, Akinmoorin, Oyo State.

The service which started by 9:30am featured a procession by the choir, lay readers, priests, wardens, legal officers, Bishops and Archbishops, Registrar and General Secretary of the Church of Nigeria, the Dean and the Primate.

The only lesson for this service was taken from the book of Matthew 16:13-28.

Delivering the sermon at this service from Isaiah 60:1-3 with the topic “Arise and Shine the Light of the Gospel in Oyo South ”, The Most Rev’d Issac Nwobia, who is the Archbishop of Aba Province charged the new diocese to ensure that the creation of the diocese is to shine the light of Christ in the area.

He urged the members to remain focused on God in unity of purpose that the diocese can forge ahead to shine and spread the light of the gospel in the environment.

He charged the pioneer bishop, The Rt. Rev’d Ebenezer Familoni to lead with the fear of God, be fearless, proactive, mentor and lead with holiness.

He noted that God is still building His church and we are all part of the process adding that the creation of this diocese is a call to duty and members must break new fallow grounds by planting more churches and winning souls for God.

After the message, the representatives of the various archdeaconries being carved out as a diocese namely, Akinmoorin Archdeaconry and Fiditi Archdeaconry, presented their petition to create the diocese before the Primate who accepted the petition and called for the deeds (relinquishment and acceptance) to be read and executed.

The primate thereafter inaugurated the Diocese of Oyo South with a great applause from the congregation and lead the prayers for the new diocese and the bishop.

The service was conducted by the Archbishop of Kwara Province, The Most Rev’d Israel Amoo and attended by over 40 bishops and Archbishops of the Church, State government officials, clergymen from various dioceses, Church of Nigeria officials, captains of industries, retired bishops and Archbishop among other dignitaries.

Oyo South Diocese was created from the existing Oyo Diocese as part of the 15 newly created dioceses in the Church of Nigeria at its last Standing committee meeting held at Ekiti Diocese in September.

Immediately after the inaugural service, the enthronement service commenced.

Korede Akintunde
CoN Communications Officer
26th November, 2025
Email: communication@anglican-nig.org