The Dominican University Ibadan, Nigeria is the first university 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. The Dominican University in Ibadan was established on the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the Order.

Illustrious Dominicans, such as the scientist and philosopher Albert the Great, and his student, the philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas, were towering intellectuals in pioneering universities of Europe in Paris, Bologna, Oxford and Cologne.

In 1951, with a mandate from the Holy See during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII…