Tony Wilmot Memorial Library

The Tony Wilmot Memorial Library at NEGST was named after the first Chairman of the Pan-African Fellowship of Evangelical Students (PAFES). Wilmot graduated from Oxford in 1938 and sought to encourage Christian witness by taking secular posts throughout Africa where churches needed support. He served in the military in Zambia, Somalia, and Ethopia during World War II. After the war he served as Permanent Secretary in the Gold Coast (Ghana) until 1957. While there he had an extensive preaching ministry and helped establish Christian camps and student fellowship groups. After 1957 he was West African Co-ordinator of the Colonial Development Corporation that was based in Nigeria, while there he and his wife made their home in Lagos. Due to his work with students he became concerned about opportunities for Africans to pursue advanced theological education. Together with Byang Kato, a Nigerian theologian and the first African General Secretary of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa and Madagascar (AEAM, now AEA), NEGST was started with Wilmot as the first Principal until a suitable African could fill the post. The first class of four students began their studies in October of 1983, and in July 1986, NEGST granted its first four graduates the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree. The dream had become a reality.

Since its inception, NEGST has attracted students from public and private undergraduate institutions from all over Africa and beyond. Today NEGST has over 500 graduates from at least 30 countries. Presently the student body is 150 residential and 170 extension students. Graduates consistently take positions of leadership in their countries, churches and Christian organizations. Douglas Carew currently heads the school.