HISTORY OF ST. ALBERT THE GREAT MAJOR SEMINARY, IDOWU-OFFONRAN, ABEOKUTA
St. Albert Seminary is jointly owned by the Bishops of the ecclesiastical provinces of Lagos, Ibadan and Benin-City. It was borne out of the need to decongest the two existing seminaries of the region that is SS. Peter and Paul Major Seminary, Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State and All Saints Major Seminary, Uhiele, Edo State.
The plan to establish the seminary came to fruition in November, 2008 with the appointment of Rev. Fr. Julius Olaitan as the coordinator of the project. The then Bishop Abeokuta Diocese, Most Rev. Alfred Martins showed him the site. The surveyor of the project, Otunba Tomi Asenuga, drew the architectural design, taking into consideration what the building committee had in mind as well as the structure of the existing seminaries of the region.
The design exhibited that the Seminary was to have ten hostels with one floor each. Each hostel was to have twelve self-contained rooms for three students each, an apartment for a priest, a television room and oratory.
This will be complemented by other buildings such as the main chapel, auditorium, library, classrooms. Junior and senior staff quarters, sports arena, a grotto and orchards. Once the drawing was set and presented to Msgr John Aniagwu, he gave his consent and it was presented to the Bishops of the province. After a few corrections, they agreed with the master plan and work began in earnest. The preliminary work schedule was presented on September 14, 2009 and Engr S.K. Illugbekhai was appointed as the structure engineer and project manager.
In March, 2010, the bishops of the region formed a fund raising and awareness committee under the chairmanship of Grp. Cpt. Patrick Ugbana (Rtd) and in September, 2010, work started on the first classroom block. In 2012, the Archbishop of Lagos also set up a fund raising and awareness committee for the Archdiocese of Lagos and this increased the speed of the construction of the Seminary.
In October, 2014, the new Seminary played host to over 180 spiritual year students and the formation team. They settled in and went through formation successfully. It was a good test of the facilities that were on ground and it gave room to the resumption of philosophical studies in 2015. The pioneer set started their programme in philosophy immediately with Very Rev. Fr. Anselm Ekhelar as the pioneering rector. The first set graduated in good grades four years later. The Seminary started full theological studies in 2020 and graduated her first set upon completing their studies in theology in the year 2023. In all, the Seminary has produced over 35 priests and several deacons serving the Church across the three ecclesiastical provinces. Presently, the Rector is Very Rev.Fr Emmanuel Lewis. who took over from Very Rev.Fr Anselm Ekhelar.
Culled by Paul Oluwafemi OGUNTEGBE