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ABSTRACT
The question of whether or not the present level of development in Ogoni owes to the activities of the church constitutes the central point of this work. In addition, the transformation from a traditional life pattern into a modern society which feature reflect the western prototypes, stirs up concerns that often try to connect the current state to the contacts and behaviors that brought about certain changes in the life of the Ogonis. This work present a critical analysis of the interaction between Christianity and the people of Ogoni. It looks at the traditional life of the Ogoni people before their contact with white missionaries towards development of Ogoni people and identified the lacunas that had been left to the role play of indigenous churches in recent times. The method adopted is historical and phenomenological. The church still remains at the center and is concerned with privation and problems of contemporary Ogonis. The early Missionaries did very well in meeting the needs of the Ogoni people and successfully captured their attention, consequently converting their hearts towards Western/culture beliefs and practices. These reflects today in the areas of education, economics, politics, religion and socio-cultural patterns. For instance, on arrival of Ogoni in the mid-19th century A.D, the Christian Missionaries gave attention to the people's socio-economic needs, setting various standards for the present Indigenous Churches. This work shows how Christianity has been sustained with much of it's trait now mostly in indigenous manner. As a matter of fact, without doubt, missionary activities brought about modern civilization to the people of Ogoni. They educated the people to multiply trades and gain self-reliance in economics, politics, medicare, religion and social life. This work concludes that with the works that church has committed to do in Ogoni, the Ogoni's maintain a high level of self-reliance and have produced many prominent people who have made outstanding contributions to the development of Nigeria as a whole.
