John Augustus Abayomi-Cole

Dr. John Augustus Abayomi-Cole (1848–1943) was a Sierra Leonean Christian minister, medical doctor and herbalist.

Early life Abayomi-Cole was born in Ilorin, Nigeria in 1848. He was educated in Sierra Leone first in a school set up by A. B. C. Sibthorpe. His secondary education was at C. M. S. Grammar School (now known as Sierra Leone Grammar School) in Freetown. He later attended Fourah Bay College where he trained as a medical doctor.

Christian ministry On graduating from secondary school Abayomi-Cole taught at the Evangelical United Brethren Church School. In his mid-twenties he travelled to the United States (U.S.) to continue his studies. Whilst in the U. S. he was ordained a Minister in the American Wesleyan Methodist church. He attended their General Conference in 1887, where he pleaded for missionaries to be sent to Sierra Leone. This led to a small mission led by Rev. Henry Johnston being dispatched there in 1889. Abayomi as part of this mission became superintendent of the Maroon Chapel but differences with the congregation led to his resignation. By 1905 Abayomi-Cole had set up his own church, the Gospel Mission Hall.

Political career Abayomi-Cole was a member of the Sierra Leone National Defence Fund set up in 1908 to support Africans subjected to racial bias accusations by the British colonialists.

Works The Hope of Sherbro's Future Greatness: A Lecture Delivered at Shaingay (1885) Dayton, Ohio: United Brethren Publishing House Revelation of the Secret Orders of Western Africa: Including an Explanation of the Beliefs and Customs of African Heathenism (1886) Dayton, Ohio: United Brethren Publishing House