RECTOR’S ADDRESS AT THE 28^th GRADUATION CEREMONY OF THE BAPTIST COLLEGE OF THEOLOGY, LAGOS

By

Rev Ezekiel A. Ajibade, PhD

I heartily welcome our Proprietor and Visitor, the President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, Rev. Dr Israel Adelani Akanji, to this glorious occasion. Thanks for being a father and pillar of support for our institution. We congratulate you once again on the successful completion of your tenure and wish you a glorious retirement and renewed strength. We extend our congratulations to the President-elect, too, Dr Olusola Idowu. I welcome our regional proprietors in the persons of Rev Dr. Matthew Awujoola, Lagos East Baptist Conference President, Rev Dr. Samuel Oladiran, Lagos West Baptist Conference President, Rev Dr. Victor Akerele, Lagos Central Baptist President and Rev Dr. Wale Oyeniyi, Ogun Baptist Conference. Thanks for your investments and for supporting every effort to grow the College.

I welcome all members of the Board of Governors with a special acknowledgement of our board chairman, Dn. Dr. Femi Okunade. Thanks for your love, friendship, sacrifice, motivation, innovative ideas, and for all the things you do to make BCT Lagos work. I welcome and appreciate His Royal Highness, Oba Saheed Owolabi Momson, the Abowa of Agbowa Land, and the Olori, our mother and friend at BCT Lagos. We are grateful for the presence of Elder S. Akinola and his team from Serving the Lord in Truth Ministry, United Kingdom. We welcome and appreciate all alumni. The faculty, staff, and students, both graduating and non-graduating, and all our spouses are welcome and greatly appreciated. We celebrate our adjunct lecturers. We indeed celebrate all guests on this occasion.

In the past year, God has helped us continue working towards advancing the school despite all challenges. We continue to build an institution with a strong spiritual foundation as we disciple our students, organise life-enriching events, and prepare them to make a difference in the world where they will minister. Among several partnerships, the Langham Preaching project has been very helpful in developing competent Bible expositors, and Bible and Ministry training has supported the spiritual formation of both students and other members of the church at large. We congratulate the three graduates of the Bible and Ministry programme and encourage as many of you who want to participate to enrol today.

Academically, we continue to strive for and cultivate a culture of excellence while creating multiple opportunities for studentship amid dwindling enrollment across several of our theological institutions. Our weekday and weekend programs are doing well. We also have students enrolled for the joint OCPRL and PAC diploma programme, which we serve as a study centre for. We especially congratulate our Master of Divinity classes as we graduate the first set this year. While we are graduating two candidates this year, we have no less than 19 graduating next year by the grace of God. Each year, we have witnessed increasing enrolment in the programme. We now have approval to offer the MDiv Sandwich during the June-July holidays, which we hope will give people more flexibility. A hybrid (online/on-site module) for a context like Lagos will also be available very soon.

 

The BCTL Consult has continued its training for different arms of the church. With the successful training of finance officers and strategic leadership training for pastors last year, we are moving on to training Deacons and youth leaders this year. We invite all deacons to the executive training in Deacons and the Pulpit Ministry of June 26-27, 2026.

Regarding infrastructure, we are grateful to Shepherdhill Baptist Church, which has completed its block of 4 classrooms. We are grateful to Yaba Baptist Church, which we believe will continue its work on the Rector’s Lodge soon. The faculty and staff continue to donate toward the flat they are constructing. The three Lagos conferences also continue to fund the construction of a three-bedroom flat for us.

We got a grant specifically to train Lagos pastors in Urban Mission. So far, more than 100 of our students have been trained, 18 professionals have been trained in the Marketplace Ministry (with a concentration in Urban Missions), and a summit on Hausa Missions in Lagos was held on March 24. A church has been planted in the General Paint slum at Ajah, and First Baptist Church, Makoko, was adopted for revitalisation in partnership with the Gideon II Baptist Association. The last part of the project is the training for 50 Lagos pastors, scheduled for July 27-30, 2026, at the Bible Guest House, Palm Grove, Lagos, and facilitated by Dr Nancy Njagi from Kenya.

 

More than ever before, the College needs our help. BCT Lagos is struggling to put its feet on the ground financially. We continue to explore various means of financial sustainability. We ask you to support us. We need to keep our internet service alive. Without any support, we may be on the way to losing it. We need to build a new Male Hostel, a stand-alone Library Complex, solar energy for the entire campus, and vehicles for our movement. We need to complete the 21-flat project, tar the access road, complete the perimeter fencing, equip the clinic, and build our sports complex.

Most critically, we need you to join us in building this worship centre. The board, under the able leadership of our chairman, has worked frantically over the past year to raise over 30 million naira for this project. We still have a journey of over N40 million to go. We need your support by giving and connecting us with donors, leading your church to support us, or including us in your annual budget. We appeal that you please observe the BCTL Promotion Sunday (any Sunday in June or July). We look forward to receiving a minimum of N100 million donation this year.

To the Graduating Sstudents

I congratulate all the graduands of today. We appreciate you for choosing this school and for weathering the storms along with us. I encourage you to make the best use of all that has been imparted to you, and let's hear good news about you all the time. If there is anything we did not do well while we are here, please forgive us. As we induct you into the Alumni Fellowship today, please be a responsible alumnus. Sow back into your alma mater and fly the banner of this institution wherever you find yourself. We look forward to seeing you each year at the Alumni Homecoming and Ministers’ Conference.

I also congratulate all those who received an award today. We would like to remind you that our award system has changed. Whereas in times past, people donated money annually for awards, we now work with a system in which award donations (of at least N200,000) are given to us, and we invest them in an endowment fund. We can then use the proceeds or interest generated from such an endowment for the annual awards. We also want to strongly encourage the establishment of scholarships, given the difficult financial situation our students face today.

Conclusion

Once again, thank you all for gracing this occasion. Thanks to all our donors, church pastors, and all lovers of our institution. Thanks to all the programme personnel and all those who have made today’s event a success. May the Lord grant you journey mercies back to your various destinations after the event.