Benson Andrew Idahosa affectionately called PAPA or BA by his followers, was a Charismatic Pentecostal preacher, and founder of the Church of God Mission International

Church of God Mission International

Christ's Chosen Church of God International is a Christian denomination from Nigeria. It has hospitals. It claims to have more than 4,000 churches. It has been founded by Archbishop Benson Idahosa in Benin City, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in Benin City. It has bishops. It is present in the...

 with headquarters in Benin City

Benin City

Benin City, is a city and the capital of Edo State in southern Nigeria. It is a city approximately twenty-five miles north of the Benin River. It is situated 200 miles by road east of Lagos...

, Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

 ⁽¹⁾. As the first Pentecostal archbishop in Nigeria, he was renowned for his robust faith. T. L. Osborn

T. L. Osborn

Thomas Lee Osborn is an American Pentecostal evangelist and author based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.Osborn was born at Pocasset in Oklahoma....

 remarked on him as the greatest African ambassador of the apostolic Christian faith to the world ⁽³⁾.
Born to non-Christian parents in a predominantly non-Christian

Religion in Nigeria

Several religions in Nigeria exist, helping to accentuate regional and ethnic distinctions. All religions represented in Nigeria were practiced in every major city in 1990. However, Islam dominated the north and had a number of supporters in the South Western, Yoruba part of the country...

 community, he was rejected by his father, John, for being frail and sickly.