The Dominican Institute is hosted by the Dominican
Priory, Ibadan. Dominicans came to Ibadan in 1967,
and in 1970 moved to the present site on a quiet
pleasant hill in the educational layout adjacent
to the University of Ibadan. It is bordered by the
Immanuel College, the Institute of Church and Society,
the Nigerian Institute of Technology, and the University
of Ibadan International School. The Priory is an
architectural landmark, designed and constructed
by Demas Nwoko, who is acclaimed far and wide for
his artistic and architectural productions.
The Institute itself has a classroom block with
8 lecture rooms, two of them double sized, with
a kitchen, student lounge and toilet facilities.
It also has a spacious library, one of the best
philosophical and theological libraries in tropical
Africa. An administration block in under construction,
and quarters for non-Dominican lecturers is planned.
The Dominican students and staff of the Institute
live in the host priory, where they share the same
table, the same quarters and live the same monastic
life. This tranquil garden oasis in the midst of
the city provides a conducive atmosphere for the
academic activity of the Institute.
The Dominican Institute, however, is public, and
has many students from the outside. These include
members of other religious societies such as Redemptorists,
Capuchins, Schoenstatts, Carmelites, Benedictines,
Sisters of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, Dominican
sisters, and lay students. The Dominican Institute
cooperates closely with the University of Ibadan
and the Seminary of SS. Peter and Paul in the areas
staff and library facilities.
The Dominican Institute of Philosophy and Theology
offers a 4 or 3-year single honours B.A. programme
of Philosophy, particularly to prepare its students
and others for the study of theology, as well as
a 3-year combined honours B.A. of Philosophy and
Religious Studies. The option for the 3-year programmes
(in single or combined honours) serves the needs
of candidates who already have a first degree in
disciplines other than philosophy. By direct entry
they can, in three years, do all the basic philosophical
courses and have credit for one year of theology.
These are in affiliation with the University of
Ibadan. The Institute also offers a B.Th. in Theology
in affiliation with the University of Jos, and an
M.A. in Theology in affiliation with Duquesne University,
Pittsburg.
HISTORY
Dominicans first came to Nigeria in 1951, to establish
an Institute of Thomistic Studies for laity at Yaba,
a project that did not last long. In 1963 the Holy
See instructed Dominicans in Nigeria to take candidates
for their Order. At the beginning of July 1966 Fr.
Michael F. Dempsey OP talked with Bishop Richard
Finn, who invited the Dominicans to start their
novitiate in Ibadan and offered them land near the
University. After obtaining the approval of the
Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith
(29 Dec 1967) and for Religious (3 Jan 1968), the
Master General of the Dominican Order, Fr. Aniceto
Fernandez OP sent word on 9 and 10 Jan 1968 making
the Dominican Community, Ibadan (then in temporary
rented quarters), a formal house with a common novitiate
for clerical and cooperator brothers. It was also
envisaged to be a house of studies for the training
of professed brothers for the priesthood.
In the beginning, professed brothers did their
studies at SS. Peter & Paul Seminary, Ibadan,
where several Dominicans were always part of the
teaching staff.
In 1975, the Master of the Dominican Order, Fr.
Vincent De Couesnongle OP visited Ibadan, and later
that year sent Fr. Liam Walsh OP, the Socius for
Intellectual Life in the Order to Ibadan, in view
of setting up an inter-African house of theology
there, complementary to a house of philosophy in
Kinshasa. In October 1976 the first Dominican Institute
began with a programme of theology. This lasted
only two years, failing mainly because of the intricacies
of inter-provincial responsibility and the lack
of formal structure and recognition of the programme.
The idea of a Dominican Institute was revived later
as a Provincial project of the Province of Saint
Joseph the Worker in Ghana and Nigeria. The 1989
Provincial Chapter (Acts #136.1) petitioned the
Master of the Order for permission to start a Graduate
Faculty of Religious Studies in accord with L.C.O.
93bis,1; A 217, and to establish the Ibadan Priory
as a Centre of Institutional Studies in accord with
L.C.O. 230 & 23. This was granted by the Master
of the Dominican Order, Fr. Damian Byrne OP. An
application for affiliation for Philosophy and Philosophy-Religious
Studies combined honours, dated 12 May 1992, was
made to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of
Ibadan, A.B.O. Oyediran by the Prior Provincial,
Fr. Gilbert Thesing OP. This application was approved
by the Faculty Board of Arts on 7 September 1992.
The 1993 Provincial Chapter (Acts #54) ordered the
Regent of Studies and Moderator of Institutional
Studies to pursue to its conclusion the affiliation
of the Dominican Institute to the University of
Ibadan, according to the organizational terms set
out in section 1 of the application. The University
visitation team, led by Professor Lloyd Thompson,
came on 17 February 1994 and was satisfied. Its
report was accepted by the University Faculty of
arts and then by the Committee of Deans.
The Senate of the University of Ibadan approved
the affiliation on 26 August 1994 (Senate paper
no. 4293). A letter of the Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Ibadan announcing the approval of
affiliation was sent on 3 October 1994. On 29 November
1994 the Provincial, Fr. Chris Angelo Otuibe OP,
and the Vice-Chancellor signed the affiliation agreement
for the Philosophy and Philosophy-Religious Studies
Programme in the Vice-Chancellor's office.
The new Dominican Institute, from the beginning,
was intended not only to provide all that is required
for the training of Catholic priests (It is a member
of the National Catholic Seminary Commission of
Nigeria), but also to provide quality Catholic education
for the general public. Therefore, besides Dominicans
and religious of several other congregations preparing
for the priesthood, its students include religious
and lay men and women who desire a Dominican intellectual
formation.
The first academic year began with the inaugural
Mass celebrated on 10 October 1994 by Bishop Albert
Fasina of Ijebu-Ode, assisted by Bishop Ayo-Maria
Atoyebi OP.
The first graduation for the B.A. (Philosophy)
was held 26 January 2000, with the Dean of the Faculty
of Arts of the University of Ibadan, Professor Segun
Odunuga, representing the Vice Chancellor of the
University of Ibadan, and Archbishop Felix Alaba
Job of Ibadan in attendance.
The theology programme began in October 1996. It
consists of five years, the first of which is taken
in courses distributed through the philosophy programme.
After completion of the basic theology programme
of four years, the fifth year is for a Master of
Theology degree.
Affiliation procedures for the M.A. in Theology
were initiated with Duquesne University (USA) with
the visit of Sr. Monica McIntyre of the Duquesne
Faculty of Theology to Ibadan in 1995 and the visit
of Fr. Iheanyi OP to Prof. James Hannigan, the Chair
of the Theology Department, and John Murray, Dean
the Faculty of Liberal Arts. Professor Sean Kelly,
the next Chair of the Department, came on visitation
to the Dominican Institute from 16 to 18 May 1997.
The affiliation of this theology programme with
Dusquesne University was signed by Sean Kelly, Chair
of the Theology Department and John Murray, Dean
of the Faculty of Liberal Arts on 12 November 1997
and the next day by the President of the Dominican
Institute. Periodic visits are part of the affiliation
arrangement. Thus Professor Michael Grey, of the
Duquesne Faculty of Theology, visited the Dominican
Institute in May 1998. The first class of three
students received their Master's degree in 2000.
The Statutes of the Dominican Institute were approved
by the Master of the Dominican Order and Grand Chancellor,
Fr. Timothy Radcliffe OP on 29 August 1999 (Prot.
45/99/1448). The new Board of Governors set up according
to the approved Statutes consisted of Fr. Thomas
McDermott OP (Chancellor), Fr. Iheanyi Enwerem OP
(President), Fr. Anthony Akinwale OP (Vice President
and Dean), Professor Segun Odunuga (of the University
of Ibadan), Dr. Pat Bello, and Chief Chris Ogbechie.
They held their inaugural meeting on 7 April 2000.
The Dominican Institute classroom block was dedicated
11 December 1999 and occupied after the Christmas
break in January 2000. This has six ordinary sized
classrooms, and two large halls with stepped seating.
An administration block, with offices for the principal
officers and 13 lecturers, was finished and occupied
in October 2003.
The present (2003) full-time staff of the Dominican.
Institute are all Dominicans of the Province of
St. Joseph the Worker in Nigeria and Ghana. Part-time
staff come from Dominicans who are in other work
and from lecturers at of the University of Ibadan
and SS. Peter & Paul Seminary, where many Dominicans
also teach courses.
The former Master of the Order, Fr. Timothy Radcliffe
OP, described the establishment of the Dominican
Province of Nigeria and Ghana and of the Dominican
Institute as the two most significant events of
Dominican history in Africa in recent times. Its
purpose is not merely to provide basic academic
formation for the brothers, but also to serve as
an intellectual focus for the Province as well as
a centre of influence on the country as a whole
and on the wider world.
This has already been partly realized in the monthly
Intellectual Evening Lectures, which have become
an attraction for the staff of the University of
Ibadan and other academic institutions in Ibadan.
In this way the aim of the first Dominicans to come
to Nigeria, to set up a Thomistic Institute, is
being realized.
Another move to broaden the influence of the Dominican
Institute was the establishment, in 2002, of the
Michael J. Dempsey Centre for Religious and Social
Research, named after the late Fr. Michael J. Dempsey,
O.P., who was a founding Father and superior of
the Dominican Vicariate of Nigeria and later Bishop
of Sokoto. He was renowned for his clear, incisive
and moving preaching. This Centre sponsored a conference
on "Preaching in Contemporary Nigeria"
on the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, 28 January 2003.
The papers of this conference have been published
as Preaching in contemporary Nigeria: Essays in
memory of Michael J. Dempsey, O.P., the first issue
of Aquinas Papers, n. 1, the Centre's annual journal.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The Dominican Institute is hosted by the Priory
of St. Thomas Aquinas, Ibadan. Its main buildings
were designed and constructed by Demas Nwoko, formerly
of the Department of Theatre Arts, University of
Ibadan, and now acclaimed far and wide for his productions.
It is an architectural landmark, and has many halls
and rooms for class or conference use.
Since the inception of the Dominican Community
in Ibadan there was a library, initially small,
but constantly growing. Once the Community moved
into its permanent site in 1970, the large classroom
upstairs in the priory became the library, growing
by constant acquisitions to approximately 20,000
volumes, too many for that room.
Three major events enhanced the library. The first
was the building of a new library building, dedicated
in 1988. This has a large reading room (10.5 x 18.5
meters). It also has a visitor's reading room and
cybercafe, a large photocopy room and a librarian's
office. The stack room is of two levels, each 14
x 19 meters.
The second event was the donation of the Chicago
provincial studium library collection, which was
not needed in St. Louis. This brought our holdings
to over 60,000 volumes, including many complete
sets of periodicals, such as Revue Biblique, Revue
des Sciences Philosophiques et Théologiques
and many more.
The third event was the acquisition of a direct
satellite connection which gives us 24 hour rapid
access to Internet. This makes available to our
students a vast amount of material which is not
available otherwise in Nigeria.
The Dominican Institute Library is far and away
the best philosophical and theological library in
Nigeria. From the beginning of the present Dominican
Institute, the book collection has been all catalogued
and the data computerized, so that a book can rapidly
be searched for or signed out.
The chief librarian is professionally trained,
and she has three full-time assistants.
A classroom block was dedicated by Archbishop Felix
Alaba Job of Ibadan on 11 December 1999 and occupied
after the Christmas break in January 2000. It has
six ordinary sized classrooms, and two large halls
with stepped seating. An administration block, with
offices for the principal officers and 13 lecturers,
was blessed by Bishop Gabriel Abegunrin of Osogbo
on 3 October 2003.
ACADEMIC CHARACTER
In line with the Mission Statement found at the
head of this Brochure, the philosophical and theological
studies of the Dominican Institute focus on Thomism
and the culture and thought of Nigeria and Africa.
There are few courses that are devoted specifically
to these themes. Yet Thomism and African thought
permeate the whole philosophy and theology programme.
Similarly, the important theological theme of spirituality
forms the basis of moral reflection, while its history
is part of Church History.
Courses range from two to three units. The number
of units is not indicative of the low or high level
of importance of a course. Rather, certain courses
are designed to be two-unit courses to prevent a
situation where the student is over-laboured. As
circumstances may require, the institute may modify
the number of units for any course.
For the purpose of clarification, a two-unit course
meets two hours per week, while a three-unit course
meets three hours a week.
