Ruth Elton

Ruth Elton (born 7 September 1933) is a British-born Nigerian retired Christian missionary based in Ilesa, Nigeria. She is the only child of Sydney Granville and Hannah Elton, deceased British missionaries who are commonly regarded as pioneers of the Pentecostal revival movement in Nigeria.

Early life and missionary work

Ruth Elton relocated to Nigeria along with her parents in July 1937 at about the age of 3. Her father, Sydney Granville "Pa" Elton, had been posted to Nigeria as an Area Superintendent of The Apostolic Church of Nigeria, which was then under Joseph Ayo Babalola. She spent her younger years in Okene. Her father remained in Nigeria for 50 years until his death in Ilesa in 1987.

Like her parents, Ruth became a missionary and served in Egbe, Ebirra, Okene, Koton Karfe and other parts of present-day Kogi, Ondo, Oyo and Osun states before retiring from active missionary work and permanently settling in Ilesa.

At some point in her early years, Ruth trained in sewing, handwork and arts at a technical college in the United Kingdom. Elton, who has remained celibate and unmarried her whole life, is polyglot, who speaks English, Yoruba and Ebira languages fluently. In 1975, she had to renounce her British citizenship to naturalize as a Nigerian, as it was impossible then to hold a dual citizenship.

Together with her missionary work, she contributed to taming infant mortality owing to poor childcare and hygiene and the practice of force-feeding, particularly in Okene, Kogi during the late colonial and early postcolonial years.

Ruth Elton has authored three Christian books. They are: The Gospel of the Kingdom; Your Citizenship: Hell or the Kingdom?; and The Kingdom Has Come.