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Celebrated Nigerian evangelist and a key leader of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Rev. Uma Ukpai, died on October 6, 2025. Aged 80, the founder and President of the Uma Ukpai Evangelistic Association (UUEA), a non-denominational gospel ministry based in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, played a major role in the spread of Pentecostalism in Nigeria. The late Christian leader and preacher was also one of the founders of the PFN.
The renowned evangelist was born on January 7, 1945. He hailed from Asaga, Ohafia, Abia State. Although Ukpai was not born into a Christian family, he converted to Christianity in 1958. He was prepared for a leadership role early in life following the death of his father at the age 10. The experience probably taught him how to save money to pay his school fees and be a man. Ukpai had his primary education at Asaga, and Khana County Council School, Ogoni. He passed through All Saints Secondary School, Aba, and Niger Delta Technical School, now Boys Technical College, Aba.
He studied at the School of Journalism and Television, Frisham, Hermitage, United Kingdom; South Florida Christian College Miami, Florida, USA; Carolina Christian University and Burke Bible College, Kentucky, USA. He held a Certificate in Electrical Engineering Practice, a Diploma in Journalism, a Bachelor and Doctorate degrees in Divinity.
Apart from impacting the Church, he also impacted many lives through his charities. He relentlessly worked to improve the lives of the underprivileged by providing access to education and healthcare by establishing schools and hospitals. He was a spiritual mentor to many men of God. As a bridge-builder, he fostered interfaith unity. Through his Uma Ukpai Evangelistic Association, he demonstrated a strong passion for preaching and winning souls for God. Uma Ukpa’s teachings cut across holiness, faith, and spiritual warfare.
No doubt, Ukpai achieved so much with the gospel and touched so many lives with his prophetic preaching and anointing. Since his passage, prominent Nigerians have eulogized his sterling qualities in God’s Vineyard. In his tribute to the great preacher, President Bola Tinubu said: “Reverend Ukpai was not just another preacher; he was an anointed crusader of the faith, filled with fire and ice for the gospel and restoring humanity to discipline, love, and good neighbourliness. He was one of the leaders in the Lord’s army who brought the fervour of revival sweeping across Nigeria and parts of Africa in the 1980s.”
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The President also stated: “He was a firebrand. I recall his Greater Ibadan for Christ crusade in 1982 and the Greater Lagos for Christ crusade in 1985, two phenomenal events in proportion and impact. Dr Ukpai’s mission was clearly to unite the Christian fold and different faiths and spread peace and harmony. He was a builder, building men and bridges linking different faiths, people, tongues, and tribes.”
Similarly, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, described the late Uma Ukpai as “a father of faith, moral compass, voice of hope, and a bridge-builder who dedicated his life to preaching peace, unity, and righteousness.” For Rep. Ibe Okwara Osonwa, the deceased was “a revered uncle, constituent, and one of Nigeria’s foremost Christian leaders.” He also said that the preacher spent five decades proclaiming the gospel of Christ across Nigeria and the world “with power, grace, and humility.”
While doing the work of God, Ukpai had a medical outreach for over 30 years. He was the chairman of Uma Ukpai Eye Centre, and King of Kings Hospital, a specialist hospital in Abia State. Ukpai was the proprietor of Uma Ukpai School of Theology and Biblical Studies, Uyo, Uma Ukpai Polytechnic, Asaga, Uma Ukpai Scholarship Foundation and Joseph Business School, an affiliate of Joseph Business School, Chicago, USA.
He also held many citywide crusades across the country.
The great man of God held the annual Greater Ohafia for Christ Crusade. He held the Anioma One-Million Crusade in 2016, Nsukka 2012 and Greater Ibadan for Christ, 1982 and the Greater Lagos Crusade, 1985. Uma Ukpai was a great man of faith who dedicated his entire life to the work of God and humanity. He won many souls to God through his firebrand evangelism, healing and anointing. We urge Nigerians to emulate his shining example. We commiserate with his family, the PFN and members of his church over the great loss.
