The history of the Catholic faith in Lagos and Badagry Without the specific mention of Fr. Francesco Borghero SMA, is incomplete.  Fr. Borghero was a Catholic missionary from the order of Lyon. The first Catholic church in the Slave Coast of West Africa was built in Agoue, by an Afro -Brazilian woman named Venosa de Jesus, when the first Brazilians arrived in 1835 under the leadership of Joaquim d'Amelda.  The church was burnt down and rebuilt in 1845 by Joaquim d'Ameida, a Brazilian ex - slave. Agoue (Benin Republic), became the center of Christianity.  Rev. Fr. Borghero is adorably synonymous to the founding of Catholism in Lagos Island, and Badagry. According to the program for the 150th anniversary of the Catholic Church in Badagry (2nd October, 2013), "Rev. Fr. Borghero was to Badagry and Lagos at large, as was St. Paul to the Gentile nations. More so as Jerusalem was a launch base for the apostles and missionary activities, so was Dahomey (Benin republic)