The inauguration of the academic/formation year, an annual event which marks the official opening of the academic/formation year of the seminary, was celebrated this year on the 30th of Oct., 2013.
The ceremony started on the eve of the day with a football match between the Bigard main team and Altar Nights Academy of St Patrick’s parish Kpiri Kpiri Abakaliki.
The soccer encounter which ended 3-2 in favor of Bigardians was held in honor of the inaugurating prelate, His lordship, Bishop Charles Hammawa, Bishop of Jalingo Diocese, who youthfully did the kickoff.
The program of welcome of the inaugurating prelate continued later in the evening at the seminary auditorium. The Rector, Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Theophilus Ukoro Igwe, in his opening remarks thanked the bishop for gracing the occasion with his Episcopal presence.
His presence, the rector remarked is a privilege to the seminary. He identified him as a good shepherd of God’s flock. As a gesture of goodwill and culture, the seminary gave the Bishop a chieftaincy title of NWANNE DI N’ MBA and decorated him accordingly.
The occasion was colored with a processional dance; Igba Umuogalanya, the aesthetic Ikorodo dance and a comedy by the Bigard theatre club.
In a heart changing homily, during the Holy inauguration mass the following day, presided over by Most Rev. Dr. Charles Hammawa, the bishop stated that the great treasure of the church is the presence of many men and women who have willingly decided to follow Christ despite the materialistic and corrupt nature of the world.
He advised the seminarians to be open to formation and have Christ as their model.
The rest of the activities continued at the seminary auditorium. At the Auditorium, the Rector presented a keynote address. He commended the formators and seminarians for making serious effort in the previous academic/formation year to enhance the quality of intellectual activity and the formation of the seminarians.
Since the theme for this year’s colloquium is, The seminarians as the chief protagonists of their own formation, he admonished that every seminarian should be the chief actor, the main character in his own formation for the priesthood and should work together with the Holy Spirit who is the first protagonist of priestly formation.
After the keynote address, the Rector Magnificus solicited with the bishop to officially declare the academic/formation year open, a request which the inaugurating prelate granted, following a formal declaration rite based on the Trinitarian formula. And with this the school was officially given the carte blanche to run for the 2013/2014 academic/formation year.
Furthermore, as part of the inaugural program, the Vice Rector II Rev. Fr. Dr. Albert Ikpenwa gave an inaugural lecture on the theme: Culture and Moral responsibility: Individuality and communality at a crossroad?
He established that culture as a gift to mankind, flows from man’s natural and social life. One of the high points of the event was the awarding of prizes to meritorious students in the previous academic/formation year with regard to academics, spiritual and social life.
Both the Heads of Philosophy Department and Theology Department, Rev. Fr. Dr. Aloysius Obiwulu and Rev. Fr. Dr. Clement Obasi, respectively, presented their assessments as regards academic performances of the seminarians and the award winning seminarians.
Corresponding prizes were offered to the stars and the rest were encouraged to work harder. Meanwhile, Mr. Paul Ochada from Nsukka diocese, carried cardinal Arinze’s cup, which is an award given to the best student in academics from the final class.
The positions in the different classes are tabulated bellow in a descending order:
| S/N | CANDIDATES’ NAME | CLASS | DIOCESE/CONGREGATION | POSITION |
| 1 | PAUL OCHADA | THEO. III | NSUKKA | 1st |
| 2 | STANISLAUS UKOHA | THEO. III | ORLU | 2nd |
| 3 | LOUIS UWAEZUOKE | THEO. III | OKIGWE | 3rd |
| 4 | ANTHONY OKON | THEO. II | IKOTEKPENE | 1st |
| 5 | ZIKODI OKWUOSA | THEO. II | AWGU | 2nd |
| 6 | EMEKA UGWUMGBO | THEO. II | NSUKKA | 3rd |
| 7 | STOPHYNUS ANYANWU | THEO. I | AHIARA | 1st |
| 8 | VALENTINE EDEH | THEO. I | ENUGU | 2nd |
| 9 | GODWIN ADIKE | THEO. I | ENUGU | 3rd |
| 10 | KELVIN ASOGWA | PHY. III | NSUKKA | 1st |
| 11 | BENEDICT AGBO | PHY. III | ABAKALIKI | 2st |
| 12 | OKOYE ALEXANDER | PHY. III | NSUKKA | 3rd |
| 13 | KIZITO EZENNAKWE | PHY. II | ONITSHA | 1st |
| 14 | HENRY UGWU | PHY. III | NSUKKA | 2nd |
| 15 | JOHN-JOHNPAUL AGBAEFUNA | PHY. III | ONITSHA | 3rd |
| 16 | EMMANUEL ANAZONWU | PHY. I | ONITSHA | 1st |
| 17 | FREDRICK OFOKA | PHY. I | ONITSHA | 2nd |
| 18 | MAXIMILIAN IKE | PHY. I | EMMANUELITE | 3rd |
The Dean of Student’s Affairs, Rev. Fr. Anthony Attah also presented those that excelled in their spiritual and social life. He presented the Bigard best behaved seminarian (BBBS), in the person of Mr. John-Paul Nwachukwu from the diocese of Nsukka, who (BBBS) was also presented with a trophy.
The list of the best behaved seminarians of the different classes, are tabulated below in a descending order:
| S/N | CANDIDATES’ NAME | CLASS | DIOCESE/CONGREGATION |
| 1 | JOHN-PAUL NWACHUKWU | THEO. III | NSUKKA |
| 2 | CHRISTOPHER NGWU | THEO. II | ENUGU |
| 3 | DANIEL NWOKOMA | THEO. I | EMMANUELITE |
| 4 | JOHN-PAUL AZUBUOGU | PHY III | NNEWI |
| 5 | PIUS EGWU | PHY II | AWKA |
| 6 | CELESTINE EZENYIMULU | PHY I | NNEWI |
Finally, a closing prayer said by Rev Fr Vitalis Ukwuaba brought the occasion officially to a close and the rest of the day was declared free for the seminarians.