Saint Gideon Meriodere Urhobo[1] (formerly known as Gregory Mogburuko Ukoli) was the founder of God's Kingdom Society (GKS).
[4][5] Gideon Urhobo was born in 1903 at Ogharegi, a small fishing port near the Ethiope River, to a Christian mother and a non-Christian father.
Gideon Urhobo was influenced by some of the doctrines of the Jehovah's Witnesses, but he began to create a unique conviction in his mission beginning from 1934.
In his biography, he wrote: With this mission in mind, he disagreed with William Roland Brown over the following teachings of the Jehovah's Witnesses: The failed predictions, including the prediction that Armageddon would occur in 1936 or 1937; the Jehovah's Witnesses' doctrine on Marriage; the belief that only 144,000 people will be going to heaven; the Memorial celebration; the practice of preaching by women; the very name, "Jehovah's Witnesses"; and the assertion that the religious group had "no human leader" (when at that time Joseph Franklin Rutherford was its global president).
In 1943, members in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) pushed for inclusivity, prompting a renaming to GOD’S KINGDOM SOCIETY (GKS).
[10] Saint Urhobo founded Church branches in Lagos (1934), Port Harcourt (1940), Warri, and Sapele (1942), followed by Onitsha (1946) and Aba (1948).
[10] Gideon Urhobo began to intervene in the political struggle for the independence of Nigeria when he aligned with and helped Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe in the nationalist cause.
Urhobo began to support the Action Group, a rival party founded by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, up until the general elections of 1951–1952.
In 2004, a book entitled, "Gideon M. Urhobo and the God's Kingdom Society in Nigeria", was written by Professor Daniel I. Ilega of the University of Port Harcourt.