On February 23, 2002, ground was broken for the Aba Nigeria Temple. Elder H. Bruce Stucki, Africa West Area president, presided at the ceremony attended by more than 2,000 including Church members and leaders, governmental leaders, and tribal cheifs from the southern region of Nigeria who traveled by special bus, local transport and on foot. In his comments, Elder Stucki said, "The mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to invite the children of God to return back into His presence. We believe the best way to accomplish this is to teach the people how to improve themselves both temporally and spiritually. We encourage them to perfect themselves. The buildings we build and the people we guide and strengthen will long stand as monuments to our commitment to assist in the building of this great country."
Travel to the temple will be accomplished by means of a road to be paved by the Church and a concrete bridge the Church will build over the nearby river. The highly visible temple site is located north of the Ogbor River on the outskirts of Aba overlooking the surrounding valley on Okpu-Umuobo Road. Elder Christopher N. Chukwurah, Area Authority Seventy, who was in attendance at the ceremony was baptized in this river 20 years ago (Church News, 23 February 2002).
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