Nigeria recently witnessed a remarkable moment of interfaith unity when Primate Elijah Ayodele, a Christian cleric and founder of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, built a mosque in Lagos.
Many people were surprised that a Christian prophet was building a house of worship for Muslims.
But was Ayodele the first to do this? We decided to look back to see how many prominent Nigerian Christians have done this in the past, and what we found was both surprising and inspiring. 
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Prominent Nigerian Christians Who Have Built Mosques
1. Primate Elijah Ayodele
Primate Elijah Ayodele built a mosque beside his church and handed it over to Muslim leaders for worship.
He said the project followed what he described as a divine instruction and emphasised that it was simply a place to worship God.
Ayodele also named the mosque after Abibatu Mogaji, the late mother of President Bola Tinubu. He explained that he had no personal interest in running the mosque and only wanted to promote unity between Christians and Muslims.
2. Martins Babale
In 2016, Martins Babale, a Christian and former deputy governor of Adamawa State, personally built and donated a mosque to the Dalasum community.
He said he built the mosque to promote peaceful coexistence and unity among people of different religions.
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3. Bishop Stephen Dami Mamza
Bishop Stephen Dami Mamza, Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Yola, built a mosque for Muslim families displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency at the Salama Housing Estate.
“I looked at the community and saw that while we had built a church for the Christian residents, our Muslim brothers and sisters had no mosque,” he explained. “It was only fair; they were part of the same community, some even from the same families.”
4. Governor Seyi Makinde
Seyi Makinde, the Christian governor of Oyo State, has supported the construction of several mosques during his time in office.
One notable example is the Omituntun Mosque, a private mosque built at his residence around 2013–2014 to allow Muslim associates and staff to worship freely.
Nigeria is home to nearly equal numbers of Christians and Muslims, with both populations estimated at around 90 million each.
In a country with such a close religious balance, actions like Christians building mosques preach peaceful coexistence.
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