AN ADDRESS PRESENTED BY REV. FR. DR CLEMENT OBASI, THE HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF THEOLOGY, BIGARD MEMORIAL SEMINARY, ENUGU, ON THE OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE 2016/2017 ACADEMIC AND FORMATION YEAR, THIS 31ST DAY OF OCTOBER, 2016.
Your Excellency, Most Rev. Dr. Michael Odogwu Elue, (Catholic Bishop of Iselle-Uku),
The Father Rector, Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Albert Ikpenwa,
Revered Formators,
My dear Seminarians.
Blessed be the Holy and Undivided Trinity both now and forever. Amen.
May I on behalf of the Theology Department welcome you all to the Solemn Inauguration of 2016/2017 Academic/Formation Year. I join the others in welcoming His Lordship in our midst. My Lord, we are very grateful that you found time to be here with us. Your presence here today will serve as a boost for us this Academic/Formation Year.
We thank God who in his ineffable mercy and grace has led us once again into this new Academic Year. We equally express our sincere appreciation to our amiable and hardworking Rector, and indeed all the formators and external lecturers in the Theology Department for their unrelenting effort and support in maintaining the academic standard and excellence which our noble Bigard is known for.
Because it is a day when academic excellence is rewarded and encouraged, the annual inauguration of the Academic Year has always remained a memorable event in the seminary calendar. This event affords us the opportunity to review our performances in the previous Academic Year, and at the same time consider the challenges and prospects of the new Academic/Formation Year.
As we begin this year, we are fully optimistic that we shall do bravely. The theme of this year’s colloqium: The Seminary as a Communion of Persons has already pointed out the focus of this year’s formative efforts – that apart from academic excellence, we aim this year to model our lives in such a holistic way that we encourage one another in the life of communion and brotherhood as co-workers in the Lord’s vineyard. We hope this communual spirit will help us all to soar even higher, academically and otherwise.
On a special note, may I use this forum to congratulate our two amiable Monsignori – Very Rev. Msgr. Donatus Ogudo and Very Rev. Msgr. Anthony Eze for their well merited papal honour; as well as Rev. Fr. Dr. Ambrose Agu who celebrated his priestly silver jubilee recently. I equally welcome Rev. Fr. Dr. Ignatius Okuta who is joining us for the first time in the department. With trust in God and in our sincere effort, we are set for this Academic Year hoping to arrive at our expectations.
Thus far, let us now review the students’ academic performances in the last academic year as it pertains to our department.
2015/2016 PRIZE WINNERS LIST THEOLOGY ONE
| Name | Ist Semester | 2nd Semester | OVERALL | ||||||
|
Total |
Ave. |
Position |
Total |
Ave. |
Position |
Total |
Ave. |
Position |
|
| Ogbuka Cyriacus | 1603 | 94.29 | 2nd | 1577 | 92.76 | 7th | 3180 | 93.53 | 3rd |
| Ugwueze Teclus I. | 1605 | 94.41 | 1st | 1586 | 93.29 | 5th | 3191 | 93.85 | 2nd |
| Nwafor Emmanuel | 1596 | 93.88 | 3rd | 1597 | 93.94 | 1st | 3193 | 93.91 | 1st |
2015/2016 PRIZE WINNERS LIST THEOLOGY TWO
|
Name |
Ist Semester | 2nd Semester | OVERALL | ||||||
|
Total |
Ave. |
Position |
Total |
Ave. |
Position |
Total |
Ave. |
Position |
|
| Arji Rufus U. FJC | 1486 | 92.88 | 3rd | 1274 | 91.00 | 6th | 2760 | 92.00 | 3rd |
| Eze Emmanuel C. | 1496 | 93.50 | 2nd | 1336 | 95.43 | 1st | 2832 | 94.46 | 2nd |
| Ezeokafor Bartholomew | 1512 | 94.50 | 1st | 1326 | 94.71 | 2nd | 2838 | 94.61 | 1st |
2015/2016 PRIZE WINNERS LIST THEOLOGY THREE
|
Name |
Ist Semester | 2nd Semester | OVERALL | ||||||
|
Total |
Ave. |
Position |
Total |
Ave. |
Position |
Total |
Ave. |
Position |
|
| Okoye Polycarp Chimaobi | 1571 | 92.41 | 3rd | 1412 | 94.13 | 3rd | 2983 | 93.22 | 3rd |
| Chigbo Joseph | 1619 | 95.24 | 2nd | 1435 | 95.67 | 2nd | 3054 | 95.44 | 2nd |
| Nnabugwu Chidiebere O. | 1631 | 95.94 | 1st | 1451 | 96.73 | 1st | 3082 | 96.31 | 1st |
Let me now present to you, the winner of the Francis Cardinal Arinze Award 2015/2016 academic year.
| Name | Overall Total
Ist Year |
Overall Total
2nd Year |
Overall Total
3rd Year |
Aggregate | Average |
| Nnabugwu Chidiebere O. | 2843 | 2691 | 3082 | 8616 | 9574 |
As we congratulate the students who have excelled and have received prizes today, we equally encourage and advise them to work harder and not rest on their oars. To the rest of the students, I say keep on working hard and may the good Lord reward your efforts with success.
Finally, we look forward to a successful Academic and Formation year. Thanks and may God bless you all.
Rev. Fr. Dr. Clement Obasi
H.O.D., THEOLOGY