Ikogosi Warm Springs

The Ikogosi Warm Springs is a tourist attraction in Ikogosi, a town in Ekiti State, Nigeria's southwestern region. Another cold spring flows alongside the warm spring and meets it at a confluence, each retaining its thermal qualities. These characteristics make spring a popular tourist destination in Nigeria.

Rev. John S. McGee, a Southern Baptist missionary, traveled from his mission center in the nearby Ekiti town of Igede to the source of the hot and cold springs that he had heard about from the Ikogosi people in 1952. He was initially deterred from doing so because of the custom he had heard from the locals. However, with the increased interest in Royal Ambassador work and youth engagement, he felt it would be better employed by constructing a Youth Camp. He raised the issue with the Ekiti Association, and we decided to construct a camp for our R.A.s and G.A.s.

The original buildings were designed and built in the following order by the Baptist Mission architect, Rev. Wilfred Congdon (located at the Baptist Mission in Oshogbo): the swimming pool, fed by the warm springs; a combination dining hall, large kitchen, and storage areas; eight small cabins, each of which could house sixteen people, with sleeping, bath, and toilet facilities; and a Baptist Mission residence.

By 1972, all of the buildings at the original Nigerian Baptist Convention camp had been built, and the camp was being visited on a regular basis by groups of Baptist adolescents and adults, as well as missionaries and other people on vacation/"local leave."

Location: Ekiti State, Nigeria