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Professor Jacinta Opara has been appointed as second substantive Vice Chancellor of Dominican University, Ibadan-Nigeria. The appointment followed a stringent recruitment exercise carried out by a professional recruiting firm and topnotch academics, in line with best global practices in headhunting for strategic positions in higher education institutions.

In an official statement by the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the University, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), the Board, in the exercise of its powers conferred by Federal Government of Nigeria and the Universities Act at its meeting on Wednesday, March 7, 2024 considered the submission of the Joint Governing Council, Senate, Search/Selection Team and approved the appointment of Prof Opara as Vice Chancellor of the institution.

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The Dominican University Ibadan (DUI) formerly known as Dominican Institute is the first university of the Order of Preachers on the African continent. Popularly called the Dominican Order, the Order of Preachers was founded by Spanish priest Dominic de Guzman in 1216 with the approval of Pope Innocent III. In her more than 800 years of existence, the Order has been actively involved in university education around the world. With the meeting of Vincent de Couesnongle, then Master of the Order of Preachers at the time and African Dominican friars in Ibadan., an umbrella body of Dominicans in Africa was established. Known as the Inter-African Order of Preachers (IAOP), it decided to establish the Dominican Institute in Ibadan as centre of philosophical studies for Dominicans in Africa. In 1993. the Dominican Institute became an affiliate school of the University of Ibadan. The DUI was granted license by Federal Government of Nigeria on November 22, 2016. That date marked the birth of the first university of the Order of Preachers in Africa. The university is accredited and recognized by National Universities Commission.

By her appointment, Prof Opara is the first female Vice Chancellor of the institution for a term of 5 years.

Prof. Jacinta Opara will be inaugurated as Vice Chancellor on Monday, July 1, 2024 at the Tom & Carolyn Walker Hall of the Dominican University, Ibadan.

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In a statement she sent in to Pacesetter, Prof Opara vowed to bring a holistic perspective to university governance with emphasis on the importance of fostering a dynamic learning environment and community engagement.

She stressed that her vision for Dominican University “is to promote a vibrant educational community where staff and students and other stakeholders are supported to serve God to achieve academic excellence”.

Born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria in 1976, Prof Jacinta A. Opara is President, African Association for Teaching and Learning and Chairman, Governing Council of the Institute of Policy Management Development. Prof Opara 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, Akerhsus University (now Olso Metropolitan University). Universidad Catolica San Antonio de Murcia(UCAM) and University of Chalco-Mexico.

Since the last 25 years, she has held teaching, research and consulting experiences across Africa, America, Europe and Asia. She rose through the ranks and was promoted to full Professor in 2016 at Kampala International University (KIU). She has held appointments at a number of private and public universities where she showcased excellence in her dedication to teaching, research and strong passion for educational development.

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She has served as Visiting Scholar of Gender, Peace and Security at IISJ(Universidad de Basque County-UPV/EHU), Gipuzkoa-Spain; Visiting Professor a Kigali Independent University; Metropolitan International University; Mount Kenya University; Laikipia University; University of The Gambia; Nexus International University; Commonwealth University; Athens Institute of Education and Research; National University of Science and Technology(NUST), Bulawayo- Zimbabwe amongst others.

Prof Opara is founding Co-Executive Director, Center for Environment and Community Development and serves on the Board/Governing Council of Metropolitan International University, Mediterranean Center for Social and Educational Research, Rome-Italy; African Institute of Management, Technology and Development Studies, Kigali-Rwanda; Association of Women Educationists; African Society for Scientific Research, Development Africa Consortium amongst other institutions including non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

She is a Fellow of Institute of Management Consultants, Fellow of African Scientific Institute; Fellow of the Board of Quality Standards, Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Professionals; Fellow of West African Postgraduate College of Environmental Health and Fellow of Chartered Institute of Administration.

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Prof Opara has worked on a number of projects, partnership initiatives and human capacity-building initiatives with a wide range of stakeholders. She has organized several international conferences, seminars and workshops across the globe. She coordinated the Publication Project of the Nigeria’s 50 Years Anniversary. She is Editor in Chief of Journal of Health and Environmental Studies; African Journal of Women Studies and Research: International Journal of Scientific Research in Education; Metropolitan Journal of Science and Technology and serves on the editorial board of over 40 international joumals. She has received 23 awards, fellowships and grants including the Erasmus Mundus of the European Commission, Brussels-Belgium, the prestigious IATEL Award for Academic Excellence in 2015 and 2024 Distinguished Leadership Achievement Award.

She maintains consulting status with several agencies in the areas of environment, health, gender, human rights, peace and security, sexuality, education, human capacity building and community development. Prof Opara is a member of African Universities’ Research Group on Health and Environment; IUCN Commission on Environmental Law (CEL); Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN); Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD); International Association for Scientific Knowledge (IASK); African Network on Water, Sanitation and Human Settlements (ANEW); International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) and International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC).

She is a Fellow of the African Sexuality Leadership Development funded by Ford Foundation and was a Delegate/Resource Person/Consultant of the 2008 UN World Women’s Day of the Women International League on Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Geneva-Switzerland; United Nations PANAFCON Summit on Water, Sanitation and Human Settlement, Addis Ababa-Ethiopia; 2004 UN World Habitat Day (UNHABITAT), Nairobi-Kenya; UNU-EHS Project on Environment, Forced Migration and Social Vulnerability, Bonn-Germany; UNU-WIDER Project on Country Role Models, Helsinki-Finland and the 2008 Women’s World in Madrid-Spain.

Prof Opara, a devout Christian of Catholic faith speaks two international languages (English and Spanish) and has visited over 30 countries. She has more than 200 publications (including over 130 academic journal articles and 15 books) and is married with children.