MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Share in our dream, walk and work with
us
On behalf of the Grand Chancellor, the Chancellor,
the Board of Governors, the staff and students of
the Dominican Institute, Ibadan, it is my pleasure
to welcome you to these electronic pages that make
up the Dominican Institute web site.
The story of the Dominican Institute began in 1976
when a few Dominican student brothers from Burundi,
Cameroon, Ghana, and Nigeria were assembled in Ibadan
to be pioneer students of the Institute. The project
was reborn in 1993. Since then, the Dominican Institute
has acquired a reputation as an oasis of intellectual
excellence.
The vocational consciousness of the Dominican Institute
has been shaped by the realities of the Nigerian
situation. Nigeria is a country of immense potentials
inhabited by citizens who are resilient, dynamic
and versatile. Her large population of 150 million,
the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious diversity
of her peoples should be an asset. But this same
diversity is often used by some to attain purposes
that are inimical to the common good. This mismanagement
of diversity and resources has created and sustained
the paradox of a rich country of poor citizens.
Nigeria ought not to be counted among under-developed
countries. She ought to be what Pope John Paul II
called her in 1982: “a credit to Africa”.
She can lead Africa out of poverty and human rights
abuse. That is why the Dominican Institute strives
to form a future generation of leaders who will
work for the integration and holistic development
of Nigeria and her citizens.
As President of the Institute, I spelt out my vision
in my inaugural address in 2004:
It is the vision of
the Dominican Institute as a place where
we all embark on the endless journey of
purification into civility and competence,
holiness, scholarship and orthodoxy. A tertiary
institution of Catholic and Dominican character
must not be lacking in any of these. Concretely
living out this vision is the immense task
that lies ahead. We owe it to the society,
the academia and the Church to strive to
preserve these defining features of a Catholic
university. We are to be at the service
of ecclesial communion and socio-cultural
advancement. A University education worth
the name must uplift the human family and
the human person who is member of that family.
We learn it from Aristotle that good friends
bring the best out of each other. Those
who aspire for excellence must befriend
those who have attained or are striving
to attain excellence. And so, placing emphasis
on the indissociable link between learning
and friendship, I invite us all, teachers,
students, [friends of the Institute], and
all other members of staff: let us, as friends,
learn and work together to build an Institute
respected in academic circles at home and
abroad for sound scholarship and intellectual
honesty, an Institute where students and
teachers assume the tedious task of tidy
thinking with patience and discipline. Let
us, as friends, work together to build an
Institute renowned in the local Church and
in the universal Church for intelligent
adherence to orthodoxy in profound communion
with and unflinching loyalty to the Church’s
Magisterium. Then our Institute will be
an oasis of excellence in doctrinal, intellectual
and character formation. |
At this point in time, the Dominican Institute
is being repositioned. Our application for a university
licence is being processed by the National Universities
Commission. When it is granted, new departments
will be created and located within three colleges:
College of Communication and Information Technology,
College of Managerial Sciences and College of Humanities.
I invite you to share in our dream, to walk and
work with us in the journey from the Dominican Institute
to the Dominican University.
Father Anthony A. Akinwale, O.P.
President and Professor of Theology
