Moses Orimolade Tunolase, popularly called Baba Aladura (“Father of Prayer”), was born c. 1879 in Okorun Quarters, Ikare-Akoko, in present-day Ondo State. He belonged to a family of local standing: oral genealogies identify his father as holding a traditional title and his mother, Ifaola, as coming from a family rooted in indigenous spiritual life. Hagiographic tradition tells of extraordinary signs associated with his birth stories that function as symbolic markers of his later vocation rather than as verifiable biography.
EXPLORE NOW: Biographies & Cultural Icons of Nigeria
In early life Orimolade suffered an illness that left him partially incapacitated and obliged to use a staff in walking. Whether by nature of temperament or circumstance, he developed an intense prayer life from youth. He spent long periods in solitary devotion and acquired a reputation for visions, prophecy and healing.
Spiritual awakening and early ministry
As a young man Orimolade’s gifts of prophecy and healing attracted attention in Akokoland. He combined familiarity with Christian Scripture learned from missionary presence in the region with a deep engagement with indigenous spiritual sensibilities. His message placed heavy emphasis on repentance, holiness and the primacy of prayer as the instrument of divine power.
Traditional biographies and early church testimonies recount his habitual withdrawals into forest and hill retreats for fasting and prayer. These retreats were formative: participants later described his ministry as emerging from an intense interior discipline rather than from formal theological training.
Missionary journeys and evangelistic work
From the mid-1920s Orimolade engaged in itinerant ministry across southwestern Nigeria. He preached widely, conducted healing services and drew crowds through testimonies of deliverance. Narratives record that his ministry used certain distinctive emblems most notably a candle (signifying divine light), a bell (to call the faithful), and the Bible (as authority). These objects became emblematic within the broader Aladura ethos.
Orimolade’s approach attracted those who were dissatisfied with the strict formalism of some mission churches and with the limitations of both charms and syncretic traditional practices. He insisted that true deliverance derived from prayer, fasting and reliance on the Holy Spirit.
The founding of the Cherubim and Seraphim movement
Scholars commonly date the emergence of the Cherubim and Seraphim movement to c. 1925, when a famous trance incident involving Christiana Abiodun took place during a service in Lagos. Christiana’s prolonged trance and subsequent account of heavenly visions catalysed public revival meetings in which Orimolade played a central role. The group adopted the name Cherubim and Seraphim, drawing from the biblical Isaiah vision, and consolidated a pattern of worship marked by candles, incense, holy water and white garments.
The movement’s worship combined fervent prayer, singing, prophecy and healing and set a new tone for indigenous forms of Christian devotion. It appealed across social strata—traders, artisans, teachers and civil servants became adherents as the movement spread.
Expansion, division and institutional growth
By the late 1920s and into the 1930s the movement had expanded broadly across southern Nigeria. Rapid growth generated organisational strains and leadership tensions. Differences of emphasis and rival claims to spiritual authority produced schisms: from the late 1920s several branches emerged, including communities rallying around Orimolade’s leadership and others centred on Christiana Abiodun. These divisions multiplied over time into a family of Cherubim and Seraphim bodies that nevertheless shared core liturgical and theological orientation.
Doctrine and worship practices
Orimolade’s theological emphasis became the backbone of Aladura spirituality. Key teachings included the necessity of moral holiness, the efficacy of persistent prayer and fasting, the immediacy of the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and the centrality of healing and deliverance. Worship made extensive use of symbolic items candles, bells and incense and of white garments as marks of purity. Angels and angelic imagery were honoured within a strong stress on biblical authority.
These elements created a recognisably Africanised Christianity: Scripture remained primary, but worship and spiritual practice bore the imprint of local symbolic worlds and a conviction in the reality of immediate spiritual experience.
Colonial context and religious significance
The Cherubim and Seraphim arose within the context of British colonial rule, when missionary societies largely structured Christian life. As an indigenous movement it challenged assumptions about religious authority and theological interpretation: it asserted African capacity to receive charismatic leadership and to fashion Christian practice that resonated with local sensibilities. Its success helped inaugurate a broader wave of African-initiated churches that reconfigured Christianity on the continent.
Later years, death and legacy
Orimolade returned to Ikare and continued to lead and teach until his health declined. He died in 1933 and was buried at Ikare; his grave remains a site of veneration. The Cherubim and Seraphim movement endured, multiplying into numerous branches with millions of adherents across Nigeria, West Africa, and diasporic communities. Its musical forms, prophetic practices and liturgical creativity influenced the development of later Pentecostal and prophetic movements.
Moses Orimolade Tunolase stands as a formative figure in African Christianity. By blending rigorous prayer, prophetic claim and indigenous cultural expression, he helped produce a self-confident, experiential Christian tradition that continues to shape religious life in Nigeria and beyond.
READ MORE: Ancient & Pre-Colonial Nigeria
Author’s note
This account distinguishes between verifiable historical detail and material drawn from oral hagiography. Where chronicles differ especially on exact birth dates and particular itinerary claims I have favoured conservative, documented wording.
References
Peel, J. D. Y., Aladura: A Religious Movement among the Yoruba. Oxford University Press, 1968.
Omoyajowo, J. A., Cherubim and Seraphim: The History of an African Independent Church. Nok Publishers, 1982.
Ayandele, E. A., The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria, 1842–1914. Longman, 1966.
