Aba Nigeria Temple Wiki

President Gordon B. Hinckley announced the Aba Nigeria Temple on 2 April 2000, at the end of the Sunday afternoon Session of the 170th Annual General Conference. Others were announced at Asunción Paraguay, Helsinki Finland, Lubbock Texas, Snowflake Arizona, and the Tri-Cities area of the state of Washington (Later Designated the Columbia River Washington Temple.)^[1]Hinckley, Gordon B.,“A Time of New Beginnings”, LDS.org, 2 April 2000. Accessed 11 November 2014, https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2000/04/a-time-of-new-beginnings.^[2]Fidel, Steve. “LDS Leader Announces 6 New Temples.” Church News, 11 Jan. 2024, www.thechurchnews.com/2000/4/3/23246757/lds-leader-announces-6-new-temples.

Ground was broken on 23 February 2002 by Elder H. Bruce Stucki of the Second Quorum of the Seventy (Then serving as Africa West Area president.) More than 2,000 people were in attendance. Visitors included church leaders and members, tribal chiefs from the area, and government leaders. Attendees traveled by special bus, local transport and on foot.^[3]Noorda, Norman and Sharon, “Nigerian Members Gather for Groundbreaking”, ldschurchnewsarchive.com, 9 March 2002, Accessed 29 August 2016, http://www.ldschurchnewsarchive.com/articles/41420/Nigerian-members-gather-for-groundbreaking.html.

The highly visible temple site is located north of the Ogbor River on the outskirts of Aba overlooking the surrounding valley on Okpu-Umuobo Road. Elder Christopher N. Chukwurah, Area Authority Seventy, who was in attendance at the ceremony was baptized in this river 20 years previous.^[4]Noorda, Norman and Sharon, “Nigerian Members Gather for Groundbreaking”, ldschurchnewsarchive.com, 9 March 2002, Accessed 29 August 2016, http://www.ldschurchnewsarchive.com/articles/41420/Nigerian-members-gather-for-groundbreaking.html.

In his comments, Elder Stucki said, “The mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to invite the children of God to return back into His presence. We believe the best way to accomplish this is to teach the people how to improve themselves both temporally and spiritually. We encourage them to perfect themselves. The buildings we build and the people we guide and strengthen will long stand as monuments to our commitment to assist in the building of this great country.”^[5]Noorda, Norman and Sharon, “Nigerian Members Gather for Groundbreaking”, ldschurchnewsarchive.com, 9 March 2002, Accessed 29 August 2016, http://www.ldschurchnewsarchive.com/articles/41420/Nigerian-members-gather-for-groundbreaking.html.

It is uncertain at what time a render was released for the Aba Nigeria Temple, though for the time period, is is possible it was revealed at the groundbreaking.

VIP Tours of the temple were held for two days prior to the public touring the temple. Over 800 VIPs and 40 media representatives attended. VIPs included Tribal elders and leaders, and Tribal Royalty.^[8]Markham, Julie. Aba Nigeria Temple Open House, bsmarkham.com http://www.bsmarkham.com/mission/Africa/Jun%2005/aba.html.

A public open house was held for 13 days from 18 June to 2 July 2005 (not open Sundays. ) 25,095 people toured the temple during this time, an average of 1,930 per day.^[9]Whisenant, Vern and Donna “Heavenly”, ldschurchnewsarchive.com, 9 July 2005, Accessed 29 August 2016, https://www.thechurchnews.com/2005/7/9/23236344/heavenly.^[10]Whisenant, Vern and Donna,“Temple Doors Open” ldschurchnewsarchive.com, 25 June 2005. Accessed 11 November 2014, https://www.thechurchnews.com/2005/6/25/23236393/temple-doors-open-to-visitors-in-aba-nigeria.

Some visitors to the the open house traveled ten hours to attend. One small family boarded buses for a five hour trip to attend the temple open house. The mother, pregnant with her second child, was induced into labor by the rough ride. The baby boy was born on the bus in the parking lot for the open house. His parents named him Temple.^[11]Markham, Julie. Aba Nigeria Temple Open House, bsmarkham.com http://www.bsmarkham.com/mission/Africa/Jun%2005/aba.html.

President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Aba Nigeria Temple on 7 August 2005. 7,415 people attended the 4 dedicatory sessions, an average of 1,854 per session.^[13]Heaps, Julie Dockstader. “Nigerian Temple to Bring a Healing.” Church News, 11 Jan. 2024, www.thechurchnews.com/2005/8/13/23236166/nigerian-temple-to-bring-a-healing.^[14]Heaps, Julie Dockstader. “‘Day of Rejoicing.’” Church News, 11 Jan. 2024, www.thechurchnews.com/2005/8/13/23236187/day-of-rejoicing.

“I have confidence that the presence of this temple will become a great blessing to the people of Nigeria,” the Prophet said in a news conference the day before the dedication. He said the temple “speaks of goodness and virtue and truth and lifts the eyes of people toward God. I think that they cannot have that kind of experience without becoming better. A whole nation will be strengthened.”

The highly visible site of the Aba Nigeria Temple is situated on 6.3 acres on the outskirts of Aba, north of the Ogbor River. A concrete bridge—constructed by the Church—spans the river, granting access to the temple complex.

Site

Also on site are a Stake Center, an Administration Office, and Accommodation Center. Landscaping includes native flowers and palm trees.

The exterior of the temple measures on Google Earth as being 45.42 m (152 ft . long,) by 23.47 m (77 ft.) wide and has an estimated footprint of 1,021.93 m (11,000 sq ft.)

Cladding

The exterior of the temple is done in 2 tones of Namibian Pearl granite, mined in South Africa.

Windows

The windows at the Aba Nigeria temple are tall skinny windows with 3 panes. The windows are arranged in sets of 3, 8 sets in all. The glass in the windows is Stained lead glass with white trim.

The design of the windows is unique to this particular 2nd generation small temple design, but a similar pattern was used in the windows for the Accra Ghana temple.

The first is at the bottom level of the spire, Facing North North West. It is English text, engraved in the stone, and painted black.

The second is on the east most face of the temple, facing East North East above the Celestial Room Windows. It is English text, engraved in the stone, and painted black.

The third is on the glass transom above the doors. It is on the north-most face of the temple, facing North North West. It is English text, etched/frosted onto the clear glass panel.

The cornerstone of the Aba Nigeria Temple is on the south east corner, facing east. It is English text, engraved in the stone, and unpainted.

The Temple features a single attached spire. The single spire is a square tower, typical of the small temples that share this same floor plan. The spire is inline with the main entrance, being offset to the right of center on the length of the temple, but on the center line of the temple width. It consists of 4 levels of progressively smaller and taller cubes. The spire is finished with the same Namibian Pearl granite as the rest of the temple.

A Copy of Karl Quilter’s 1982, 7 foot fiberglass statue was placed upon the temple 23 February of 2004. The statue faces East North East.

Events

The Aba Nigeria Temple has an official total floor area of 11,500 square feet (1,070 m²).

Hardwoods

The interior features a type of African hardwood called Makore — a wood similar to mahogany. Furniture placed in the temple is made of Akala, a type of light-colored wood decorated with gold leafing.

Colors

“Colors used in this temple are more vivid because African fabrics are more colorful,” said designer Bengt Erlandsson. “Much thought and planning went into these designs.” Erlandsson spent several months in Africa studying African fabrics in order to receive inspiration for the temple’s interior.

Carpet

The carpet features custom designs and was sculpted by hand. The floor tile and windows throughout the temple also include African-inspired images.

Services Rooms

The temple has no food services and no clothing rental.

Entry/Waiting Area

The Entry and Waiting Area of the temple is directly under the spire of the temple, and sits between the Baptistry and First Instruction Room.

The Aba Nigeria Temple has a single baptistry. It is located to the right of the main entrance of the temple, along the centerline of the structure, at the temple’s west end.

There is one initiatory space attached directly to each of the changing rooms. There is one Room per changing room area, for a total of 2 booths.

Each Room is partitioned into 4 progressive spaces.

On the other side of the entrance from the baptistry, are the temple’s two, progressive style instruction rooms.

Instruction Room A

The first instruction room is on the center line of the temple, Opposite the entrance from the Baptistry. Patrons will start a session in this room, and finish the session in the next. In this temple floor plan, this first room often has some type of mural. It is unknown if Aba has murals in this room.

Instruction Room B

Beyond the second instruction room, at the opposite end This room is also located on the centerline, between Instruction Room A and the Temple’s Celestial Room.

The Aba Temple has two sealing rooms, one each on either side of the Celestial room and Instruction Room B.

The Project Manager for this temple was Russell S. Tanner, who has managed other temple construction projects for the Church.