BAURUBA (also called Bariba) are people of Borgu.
Borgu (French: Borgou) is a region in north-west Nigeria and in the northern Republic
of Benin. The three major kingdoms of Borgu are Bussa, Illo and Nikki. Bussa is traditionally considered to be the spiritual centre of Borgu, Nikki the centre of political power and Illo the commercial emporium.
Poor soils, low rainfall (especially in the dry season), and Fulani slave raids in the 19th century have made Borgu one of Nigeria’s least-populated regions. They mainly engage in cattle and poultry raising, subsistence farming (sorghum, millet, shea nuts, onions, corn [maize], peanuts [groundnuts], cotton, tobacco), and fishing.
OUR WORK
The Lord led us to the Baruba people in 2004. After the initial ground work, we set out for Nikki, Republic of Benin 2005 to explore and commence our missionary work among them. From available information at that time 80% of the Barubas live in Republic of Benin while the remaining 20% dwell around Kaima, Kosubosu and Ilesa-Baruba axis in Nigeria. That first journey was a huge success and we were able to leave behind our missionary, Pastor Annanias Haruna to spear-head the work in the area.
He labored for one year without any result and we decided to withdraw him back to Nigeria in 2006 with the aim of closing the work. As he went back to get his belongings, the Lord gave him a convert, Bro Isaiah who became the first fruit of our effort amongst the Barubas. That was the inspiration that kept us amongst the Barubas and has given rise to the expanded work at the moment.
In 2007, the First Baptist Church Nikki invited Messiah Arena to take over the Pastorate of the church after most of the members had deserted the church. The God of heaven enabled us to stabilize the church and growth began to take place. This created the opportunity to reach out to the surrounding villages and communities. Through our annual Celebrating The King programmes held in Nikki, Okuta and Nngrumi-Gwarana we have been able to support and strengthen the work amongst the Barubas. This has given the work a boost and endeared Messiah Arena in the hearts of many within this people group.
BAURUBA (also called Bariba) are people of Borgu.
Borgu (French: Borgou) is a region in north-west Nigeria and in the northern Republic
of Benin
Our Challenges:
The task has suffered largely from dearth of reliable and committed workmen. Some of the missionaries who had worked with us have either abandoned the work or proven to be half- baked Christians themselves. One noticeable characteristics of the Baruba Christians and Pastors alike is unseriousness rooted in lack of deep commitment to Christ. This position is worsened by the influence of the surrounding Muslim population and traditional religion adherents who combine every kind of faith with demonic power. Liberal living, infidelity, alcoholism and poverty are common place amongst the Barubas.
Current initiatives:
We began to think about restructuring the work in 2014 when the Lord laid the burden in our hearts to increase our effort in reaching out to the Barubas. With the help of the Lord we have established more mission fields in Tontaru, Wonko, Agankiru within the Republic of Benin axis and new works are being commenced around Chikanda and Gure in Nigeria. To improve the effectiveness of the work, we have redesigned the ministry structure and missionary responsibilities including the behavioural imperative for missionaries which should expectedly lead us into the future.
