50 years later, dignitaries gather to celebrate St. Augustine’s Major Seminary

In its 50 years of existence, the St. Augustine’s Major Seminary in Jos, Plateau State, has graduated 1,455 priests and 437 seminarians, out of which 20 of the priests have become bishops, and two of the bishops have been made archbishops. The two archbishops are Most Rev. Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, the archbishop of Jos and […]

In its 50 years of existence, the St. Augustine’s Major Seminary in Jos, Plateau State, has graduated 1,455 priests and 437 seminarians, out of which 20 of the priests have become bishops, and two of the bishops have been made archbishops. The two archbishops are Most Rev. Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, the archbishop of Jos and Most Rev. Mathew Ndagoso, the archbishop of Kaduna. The 18 other bishops include outspoken bishop of Sokoto diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah; Joseph Bagobiri of Kafanchan; Philip Davou Dung of Shendam among others. 

Having graduated such eloquent and exemplary Nigerians, it was therefore not surprising that celebrating the seminary’s golden jubilee brought together the crème de la crème in the spiritual, traditional and political circle. The event, which attracted Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, also attracted governors of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal and that of Taraba, Darius Isiaku, who joined their Plateau State counterpart, Simon Bako Lalong in the celebration. Deputy Governors of Nasarawa and Benue were also at the event, as well as the Minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung and Minister of State for Industries, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar. In the religious circle, the event attracted the archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, that of Jos, Kaduna, Sokoto, many other bishops, Rev. Fathers as well as well wishers from the Islamic circle.

Traditional royal fathers like the Gbong Gwom Jos, Jacob Gyang Buba; the Long Gamai, Miskoom Martin Shaldas and others were also present. However, Gyang Buba’s presence at the seminary was fitting as it brought back memories of how the seminary came to be at its present location. It was Gyang Buba’s predecessor, the late Rwang Pam who was instrumental to the present location of St. Augustine’s Major Seminary around Laranto, in Jos North after it relocated from its temporary site in Keffi, Nasarawa State.

According to a document made available at the golden jubilee celebration, by Nigeria’s independence, the only major seminaries in the country were St. Peter and Paul Bodija for the South-West and Bigard Memorial for the South-East. There was a request for a major seminary in northern Nigeria in 1963 to be cited in Zaria so that the ordinaries do not continue to send their candidates to the south considering the distance, cultural and climatic variation. But the establishment of a major seminary in northern Nigeria was not an easy task. 

The historical background of the seminary which was written by the institution’s immediate past rector, Fr. Sylvester Dagin, noted that at the beginning, the request for a northern seminary had been denied as “the authorities in Rome though that establishing a third seminary would be a waste of resources and instead they suggested a national seminary to be established in Lagos.” 

However, the military coup of 1966 put the idea of a national seminary on hold and with the counter coup, there was regional tension, and the need for the North to develop her own seminary became apparent.  

He wrote in the brochure with the theme: ‘Remembering our Past, Shaping our Future’ that another appeal to Rome after the counter coup yielded positive results and it was agreed that a major seminary in the North be established and St. Augustine’s Major Seminary came into being in 1967. A temporary site was established in Keffi under the rectorship of Fr. Tom Flynn from Yola diocese, assisted by Fr. Gerald O’Brien from Maiduguri diocese. 

Before its present location, the seminary had taken temporary residence at Sabon Gwong in Jos but with the assistance of then Gbong Gwom Jos, Rwang Pam, it got the present piece of land which had earlier been earmarked as an extension of a cemetery, while another land at Zaria road was given to the LG authority as replacement for the cemetery’s extension. 

But 50 years is no mean fit for the first major seminary in northern Nigeria. The great citadel of learning for the Christian faith has proven itself a pride for all Catholics. Fr. Cletus Gotan of Jos diocese became the first indigenous rector of the seminary when the expatriate Augustinians formally handed over the seminary to indigenous hands in 1984. Nevertheless, years of spiritual and educational impact on the society has begun to take its toll on infrastructure and facilities. 

The present rector, Fr. Mark Nzukwein, during his welcome remark, said despite its tremendous progress in the areas of spirituality and academic excellence, a lot needs to be done in the area of infrastructure for the seminary. “The seminary doesn’t seem to look like a mature entity at 50 as there are a lot of deficit regarding the quality of accommodation for both staff and student, moderate means of transportation for the students, the physical appearance in terms of landscaping, utilities, modern learning facilities, sporting facilities and so on. The question is: what can we collectively do in order to address this infrastructural deficit?” he asked.

But the celebration was not all about reminiscing about the past 50 years as the religious leaders took time to express their worries over the “persecution” of the church in Nigeria. Bishop Kukah expressed anger at what he called actions of overzealous civil servants in the federal and state governments who have continued to undermine the work of the Church especially through denial of facilities required for the church to perform its functions and make contributions both locally and internationally. 

“When the state governments in the North deny Christians access to land for building of schools and places of worship, it violates the principles of collaboration and cooperation that underpin common citizenship. For example, being denied access to broadcasting rights violates the spirit and the letter of the Constitution. In the end, it is the government that denies itself and its people opportunities to achieve what the government itself very often is unable to provide for them,” he said.

Kukah also explained that the bishops of Anglophone and Francophone West Africa had formed a common body known as the Regional Episcopal Conferences of West Africa (RECOWA) to help in the peace and development processes of the region with a headquarter first in Liberia but was later relocated to Ghana due to the war. He said the headquarter has since moved to Abuja so as to be close to ECOWAS but expressed disappointment that three years on, it is unable to process the same application with the federal government. 

At the end of the day, great speeches were made, the past was remembered and a map for the future was drawn, but it was the presence of past rectors from Ireland such as the first vice rector, Rev. Fr. Gerald Ben O’Brien, some surviving priests and two lay members of the pioneer class of 14 seminarians, the third rector, Rev. Fr. James Downey and one time Dean of studies and vice rector of the seminary, Rev. Fr. Desmond Foley, that spiced the occasion.