When Olu Abiola first came to Eng-land as a young preacher, he met lonely fellow Nigerians badly in need of succour who failed to get any from the one institution which might have provided a link with home—the church. In post-war Britain, Anglicanism was a largely white affair. This was especially hurtful for Olu, a member of the Church Missionary Society, one of the institutions that evangelised the colonies. Half a century on, Father Olu Abiola obe has a certain standing in London's religious scene. He left the Anglican church at the urging of Hugh Montefiore, a bishop whose Jewish origins and sharp, independent mind gave him some sympathy with outsiders. Father Olu is now the leader of an exuberant Aladura movement, made up of churches of African origin that put more emphasis on worship than theology.
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