Oke-Are Seminary Old Boys Unveil N200m Renovation Plan For Dilapidated Facilities
The Lagos branch of the Oke-Are Seminary Old Boys Association of Nigeria (OSOBAN) has announced plans to raise N200 million to renovate critical infrastructure at St. Theresa’s Catholic Minor Seminary, Oke-Are, Ibadan.
This was contained in a statement signed by the association’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Anthony Osoro.
The seminary, which is over 120 years old, has served as a training ground for Catholic priests in Nigeria and across the West African sub-region. It has produced eminent clerics, including late Cardinal Christian Tumi of Cameroon, senior priests from Liberia, and Nigeria’s Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie.
With the array of the leadership of the Catholic Church in Nigeria, like Archbishops Alfred Adewale Martins, Felix Alaba Job and Bishops Felix Ajakaiye and Peter Odetoyingbo of Lagos, Ibadan, Ekiti and Abeokuta Catholic Dioceses, respectively the Oke-Are Seminary has contributed a huge chunk to the growth of the church and the alma-mater should reap bountifully from its contributions to the church as well as the larger society.
It is in the light of this that the Alumni association; OSOBAN, Lagos Branch considers the construction of befitting conveniences for the Seminary in Oke-Are right and just to give a face-lift to the dilapidated conveniences currently available in the school.
To achieve the goal of constructing befitting conveniences for the Seminary, the leadership of the Lagos branch headed by Mr. Fidelis Otasowie empanelled a planning committee for its 2025 Annual summit to raise a sum of N200m (Two Hundred Million Naira)
The Summit Committee hopes to rally the Old Boys together and leverage on their goodwill especially the priests’ who have provided spiritual leadership within and outside the shores of Nigeria to raise the princely sum for the construction of modern and befitting conveniences for the Seminary Community.
In his acceptance statement, the Committee Chairman Mr. Segun Ogunade assured the leadership of the branch that the summit committee will work assiduously to deliver on its mandate even though the task is enormous.
Segun Ogunade stated that the Catholic faithful would without doubt be concerned about the health of future priest whose hygiene and well-being must be cared for, from their adolescent ages. He noted that the Seminary being a faith based and mission owned Secondary School cannot therefore draw resources from the state but only from Catholic faithful and corporate organizations concerned about the health and wellbeing of youths and such organization would be approached for support to achieve the objectives of the Seminary Old Boys.
