Jacinta Opara takes over as Dominican varsity VC

Professor Jacinta Opara, a leading environmental scholar and human rights activist, has been formally inaugurated as the second substantive Vice-Chancellor of Dominican University, Ibadan (DUI).

Professor Opara took her oath of office on Monday at a ceremony in the university, which was graced by the Catholic Archbishop of Ibadan Archdiocese; Most Reverend Gabriel ‘Leke Abegunrin; the Prior Provincial of the Province of St. Joseph the Worker, Very Reverend Father Modestus Ngwu OP, who is also the Chancellor and Proprietor of DUI; a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Abel Olayinka, who was the guest lecturer; the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the university, Dr Anthony Idigbe SAN (who attended virtually), among other dignitaries.

Prof Opara, in her speech at the ceremony, held at the Tom & Carolyn Walker Hall of the university, said her intention was to build on the foundation her predecessors had laid, and listed her five-point agenda through which she said would govern the Dominican University, Ibadan.

Opara said her administration would be hinged on “excellence in learning, excellence in teaching, excellence in research, excellence in innovation and excellence in industrialisation and commercialisation”, and added that the management of the university under her would give cutting-edge research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the integration of technology into the curriculum priority.

She called for the cooperation of Senate, Governing Council, management, staff, and students of the DUI, saying her administration would ensure that the students received world-class education that would prepare and equip them for the future, and added that she would strengthen the university’s ties with local, national, and global communities to enhance its relevance and impact.

Earlier Prof Olayinka advised that the Vice Chancellor must manage the vision and dreams of the university, while also adding that she “must provide leadership, strategic vision and direction to enhance academic programmes.”

Prof Olayinka congratulated the new VC and warned her to “prepare to be misunderstood” in her quest to give life to her vision for the university.

The Proprietor, Rev. Fr. Ngwu, who formally pronounced Prof Opara’s assumption of office, congratulated her and also urged her to brace up for all shades of ideas and opinions as she works among his brothers of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans).

In a goodwill message, the Chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees, Dr Anthony Idigbe (SAN), pledged the support of the board for the VC, saying “if you succeed, we all succeed and we will help you to succeed.”

Archbishop Abegunrin, while congratulating Prof Opara, noted that she left her comfort abroad to take up the appointment, saying her sacrifice was commendable and that Nigeria needed such sacrifice by other well-positioned Nigerians to help make the nation better.

Prof Jacinta A. Opara, who has now become the first female Vice Chancellor of Dominican University, Ibadan, is a leading African environmental scholar, scientist, educator, health researcher, consultant, and development activist with combined power of management and human rights. She is the President, African Association for Teaching and Learning and Chairman, Governing Council of the Institute of Policy Management Development. She is a graduate of University of Ibadan and University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She received postgraduate degrees from University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, University of Granada, Central University of Nicaragua, Akershus University (now Oslo Metropolitan University), Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia(UCAM) and University of Chalco-Mexico, amongst others.

Dominican University, Ibadan, a private university established by the Order of Preachers, St. Joseph the Worker Province, Nigeria and Ghana, was licensed in November 2016 and got full operational license in July 2020 by the federal Government of Nigeria.

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