The first Anglican missionaries arrived in Nigeria in 1842. The first Anglican Nigerian was consecrated a bishop in 1864. However, the arrival of a rival group of Anglican missionaries in 1887 led to infighting that slowed the growth. In this large African colony by 1900 there were only 35,000 Anglicans, about 1/5 of one percent of the population. However, in the late 20th century the Church of Nigeria became the fastest growing of all the Anglican churches, reaching about 18 percent of the local population by 2000.