Profile: Dr Jacob Igba

“Transforming Africa from a mission field to a mission force”

Dr Jacob Igba recently joined Mukhanyo’s team as a Senior Lecturer. He has a personal sense of calling to contribute toward building and strengthening the kingdom of God in Africa through theology and missions.
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He believes that leaders and churches, especially in Africa, need solid equipping in theology and missions to stem the tide of numerical growth. The majority of pastors have little to no theological training, leading to churches that have minimal engagement with taking the gospel to those who have yet to hear it.

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This is why Dr Igba joined Mukhanyo, lecturing in Hermeneutics, Systematic Theology, and Biblical Studies at Mukhanyo’s Pretoria and KwaMhlanga campuses.

Dr Igba grew up in Northern Nigeria and when he was a young minister in Nigeria, he came to realise the need to study theology. He started his theological studies at the Bible Institute of South Africa in 2008, where he later lectured part-time. He was also a course facilitator at the BISA Centre for Ministry to Muslims.

He completed the Honours in Theology at George Whitefield College and was a resident member of the evangelical research fellowship of the college during his Master’s. He obtained his PhD at the North-West University, Potchefstroom, in 2019 and has since published articles in accredited theological journals.

Dr Igba is concerned that many churches in Africa are not mission-minded. He believes that if the situation changes, Africa could become a mission force instead of the mission field she has always been in: “If this does not happen, Christianity in Africa faces the danger of becoming something else but different from biblical Christianity.”

To contribute to this change, Dr Igba continues to maintain his involvement as a mission mobilizer with Africa Inland Mission International, along with his teaching role at Mukhanyo. He believes Mukhanyo is a great college with a theological curriculum that is sensitive to the needs of the church: “Students at Mukhanyo are enthusiastic to learn and I thoroughly enjoy the very contextualised classroom discussions that relate theology to life and ministry.”