Nigeria's Bakarey becomes first African president of Christian Science Church

Church headquarters in Boston

The Christian Science Church with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, has elected a Nigerian, Bosede Bakarey, as its first African president.
A lawyer-turned-clergy, Bakarey serves as president of the church for the next year from her base in Ibadan, Nigeria.  She's expected to travel regularly to the headquarters and other parts of the US and beyond for official duties.
The church is known for its publication, Christian Science Monitor, a print and online publication that has won several Pulitzer prizes for its journalistic works.

"It's an honor to Africa. Sometimes I'm in awe when I think about it"

Bosede Bakarey

Founded in 1879 by a woman called Mary Baker Eddy, the church believes in divine healing and members are known for preferring such healing to that delivered in hospitals.  "The Christian Scientists believe in healing through prayer, and anyone, regardless of religion, can enlist the services of a practitioner, for a fee," writes Dallas Bolen in a yahoo news article.
"It's an honor to Africa. Sometimes I'm in awe when I think about it," she says. "Who am I to be the president of The Mother Church? But I just know it's God; it's beyond me.... We can see the hand of God in it," Christian Science Monitor quotes Bakarey as saying in response to the announcement.