Until 1973, the students aspiring to the Priesthood from Anglophone part of Cameroon went to the Major Seminaries of Enugu and Ibadan in the Republic of Nigeria. Until then, Cameroon had only one Major Seminary at Nkolbisson, Yaounde. It was thanks to the kindness of the Bishops of the Eastern Nigerian States that priests were trained for the Anglophone Dioceses in Cameroon. Although there was an acute accommodation problem in the two Nigerian Seminaries, the Bishops preferred to postpone the admission of some of their own students in order to make room for the Cameroonians. This situation had to end one day.

Photo: campus View

After the erection of the diocese of Buea in 1950, Christ’s Lay Faithful thought and rightly so, that they had come of age to support the training of a local clergy at home. Theirs was a longing for truly indigenous priests, graced with deep knowledge of the Faith and the attendant cultural and pastoral circumstances of their people. Hence, availing themselves of the golden opportunity of the Episcopal ordination of Msgr Pius S. Awa on Pentecost Sunday, 30th May 1971, the lay faithful, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, requested with one voice the erection of a Major Seminary in ‘West Cameroon’, (a federated state at the time). According to Canon Law, the erection of a Major Seminary needs the approval of the National Episcopal Conference and the authorization of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, Propaganda Fidei, Rome.

Within a few months after that surprising and unexpected request of the committed lay people, the Bishops of Buea and Bamenda decided to take the challenge to effect the realization of this dream. They put forward cogent reasons and arguments which they presented to the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples in October 1971 and to the Plenary Assembly of the Cameroon National Episcopal Conference in April 1972. The Bishops got the green light from Rome via the Apostolic Nunciature at Yaounde in letter No. 2439/72 of October 8, 1972. A year later, precisely on the 15th of September, 1973, a group of twelve men set foot in what had been until 1972, St Peter’s Teacher’s Training College.

The pioneer class, which consisted of students from the three dioceses of Buea, Bamenda and Garoua, was catered for by eight full time teachers, two Cameroonian Priests of Bamenda diocese, three Benedictines and three Mill Hill Missionaries, with Rev. Fr Christian Wiygan Tumi ( now Cardinal) as first Rector. However, it was not until 14th October 1977, that by decree Prot. No. 4684/77 the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples declared the Seminary canonically and definitely approved and erected. By another decree Prot. No. 4685/77, the same Congregation appointed the Re. Fr Christian Tumi as Rector of the same Seminary.

Opened on the 15th September 1973, the Seminary was solemnly inaugurated two and a half months later, on 3rd December, 1973, Feast of St Francis Xavier. A Pontifical High Mass, which began at 3 p m, was the focus of this red-letter day.

The then Minister for Telecommunication, Professor Bernard Fonlon, had written a letter to the Bishops of Bamenda and Buea before the opening of the Seminary. Fonlon rightly notes in this letter: “… next to being a saint, our future African Priest should be such a scholar, that he should be respected by the world of learning whether they like it or not”. Hence from its inception, the Seminary has taken this challenge seriously and pursued its aims with the necessary intellectual rigour. By decree No. 902/78/2 issued at Rome on Dec. 1st, 1978, the Congregation for the Catholic Education declared the Philosophy Department of the Seminary to be an Affiliate ad quadriennium et ad experimentum of the Philosophy Faculty of the Pontifical Urban University, Rome. And in 1981, by decree No. 277/81/2 issued at Rome on April 8th 1981, the Congregation of Catholic Education declared the Theology Department of the Seminary to be an Affiliate ad quadriennium et ad experimentum of the Theology Faculty of the Pontifical Urban University, Rome. These affiliations have been renewed over the years. On 30th March, 1989, the Congregation for Catholic Education by decree Prot. No. 220/A/89 renewed and extended for the maximum of ten years, the affiliation of the Philosophy department of the Seminary. On 9th June, 1990 the Theology department had its affiliation extended of another five years according to decree Prot. No. 409/A/90. This extension was accompanied by a strong advice from the Congregation for Catholic Education that the Seminary should employ more qualified lectures to give its desired status. The Seminary has remained affiliated to the Pontifical Urban University since the renewal of its two departments of Philosophy and Theology on May 8th, 1996. The history of this affiliation has shown itself very fruitful as nearly all students over the years received their end of course certificates in either Philosophy or Theology from the Urban University in Rome. The Seminary had frequently been visited and inspected by officials of the Urban University. This affiliation has definitely created a tradition of high academic standards. As recent as this year 2013, we got a letter of Renewal of affiliation for the Philosophy and Theology Departments for the next five years.

Meantime, we saw the first results of the strenuous efforts of the Seminary staff in the first ordination s during Easter of 1979. Nine out of the first twelve seminarians had successfully gone through and the local Church rejoiced as they witnessed the grace-filled occasion of the harvesting of the first fruits of their sacrifices. This first group was referred to as the Pioneer Class of Bambui Seminary. By July 1978, the last group of seminarians of the English Speaking dioceses who had been studying at Bigard Memorial Seminary Enugu, Nigeria, completed their studies and from then on all seminarians were supposed to pursue their studies in Bambui.

The history of the Seminary bears the stamp of six Rectors, viz. Fr Christian Tumi who after assuring an effective take-off and laying the foundations on which future generations would build, was appointed Bishop of Yagoua on December 20, 1979, by Pope John Paul II. He had proved himself worthy in small things and so was entrusted with greater ones. Fr Engelbert Nyamnsai Kofon took over and became acting Rector until 30th September 1980 when the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples by decree Prot. No. 4907/80 confirmed and officially appointed him Rector. The next ten years saw Fr Engelbert Kofon at the helm of the formation team. In 1990, he was called to higher duties as he was appointed first Rector of the Catholic Institute of Yaounde. He was succeeded by Rev. Fr Immanuel Bushu who served for three years only and rose to a position of higher service, receiving the fullness of the priesthood as he was appointed Bishop of Yagoua. In January 1993, Rev. Fr John B. Ambe was given the mandate to pilot the Seminary into the Third Millenium as Rector. In 2002, he was succeeded by Father Christian Mofor who was serving on the Seminary Staff as lecturer in Philosophy. In 2005, he in turn was appointed Rector of the Catholic Institute in Yaounde. The Bursar, and Patristics teacher, Rev. Fr Agapitus Nfon was then appointed Rector and took over from Fr Christian Mofor. In September 2011 after his election as auxiliary Bishop of Bamenda, Fr Agapitus was succeeded by Rev. Fr Ignatius Waindim a teacher of Sacred Scripture of the same institution as the 7th rector in the line.

It is worth noting that the Major Seminary has been a fertile ground for the “training of Bishops”. Today, she counts ten Bishops to her credit. Among these some were once Rectors, others once Members of Staff and others ex- students of the institution. After Christian Cardinal Tumi who on December 20th, was appointed Bishop of Yagoua, the Bull Aptiora in Dies issued in March 1982 appointed Rev. Fr Cornelius Fontem Esua, then lecturer of Sacred Scripture at the Seminary, as the first Bishop of the new diocese of Kumbo. Eleven years after, Fr Immanuel Bushu was appointed Bishop of Yagoua. Then in February 1999, the Seminary was again honoured, as her Spiritual Director, Fr Francis Teke Lysinge was appointed first Bishop of the diocese of Mamfe. An ex-student of STAMS, Fr Dieudonné Bogmis, was also appointed auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Douala, now the Bishop of Eseka. On July 8th 2006, another, another ex-student of STAMS, Fr George Nkuo, was appointed the new Bishop of Kumbo, succeeding the First Residential Bishop, Mgr Cornelius F. Esua, who is now the Archbishop of Bamenda. In December 2009, Fr Sosthenes Bayemi, another ex-student of STAMS was appointed Bishop of Obala Diocese. Again on Friday, April 8th 2011, Fr Agapitus Nfon was appointed auxiliary Bishop to the Rt Rev. Cornelius F. Esua of the Bamenda Metropolitan See (now Diocesan Bishop of Kumba Diocese). Two years after this Fr Andrew Fuanya Nkea, a teacher of Canon Law and then Dean of the recently created Catholic University of Bamenda, was appointed Co-adjutor Bishop of Mamfe diocese with the right to succession. Also, Mgr Simo Gabriel, auxiliary Bishop of Bafoussam, was a teacher in STAMS.

With ten Bishops to its credit, the seminary in Bambui could never sufficiently thank the Lord for his abundant blessings.