Emmanuel Odumosu

Emmanuel Olufunmilayo Odumosu (1915–1988) known predominantly by his sobriquet Jesu Oyingbo which means “Jesus of Oyingbo” was a religious sect leader who claimed he was Jesus Christ returned. He founded the Universal College of Regeneration in Lagos. A self-proclaimed messiah, his personal beliefs included liberal sexual rights and capital accumulation. Sect members worked in various businesses of the movement establishing a self-contained economy within the movement.

Life Emmanuel Odumosu was born in 1915 to Jacob Odumosu. His grandfather, Joseph Odumosu (1863–1911), was a Christian traditional healer from Ijebu-Ode. Joseph Odumosu used his printing house to publish some of the earliest books on Yoruba indigenous medicine. His three-volume work Ìwòsàn written in Yoruba, provided instructions for more than 5,621 therapeutic interventions addressing issues such as gonorrhea, goiter, finding a suitable wife, poisoning, and adultery. According to historian Toyin Falola, Odumosu's work is regarded as "the best in the area of indigenous medicine." I am He. I am Jesus Christ, the very one whose second coming was foretold in the New Testament. I have come, and those who believe in me will have an everlasting life and joy. I am the missing of the trinity. I have come to prepare the faithful for the judgment day.

Universal College of Regeneration Odumosu's early sermons emphasized duality of the world and self-discipline. The natural world which is filled with evil machinations, principalities and powers and a spiritual world, in which he had access. The spiritual world and natural world are in constant battle, with the former emphasized as the redeemer of the natural world. His religious movement started in 1952 at a location in Lagos Island, another major message was self-discipline; consisting of denouncing alcohol, women and tobacco.

At onset, initial congregation was small, about 30 members could be counted in 1954. During this time, he instituted tithe giving to assist the poor, Odumosu also encouraged members to fund his evangelical missions. His movement began to grow and better organized, the growth assisted with a donation by a wealthy convert who provided his property for Odumosu's use. One of those properties was in Ebute Metta, where Odumosu decided to settle the movement. Since the founding of the movement, members lived at their own residences, but after the movement to Ebute Metta, Odumosu asked them to leave their houses and live in rented properties close to the church building.

The Universal College of Regeneration, established by Odumosu, became Africa's first megachurch. At its peak, the organisation had more than 2,000 followers, who gathered weekly at the commune on Manor Street in Lagos for religious activities.

Odumosu died in 1988.