St. Thomas Aquinas Priory, Ibadan Only two or three Dominican houses in the whole world have a greater number of brothers than Ibadan. The priory, which is the formation house of the Province, and the related Dominican Institute of Philosophy and Theology are the greatest and most important Dominican venture in the Province and in Africa as a whole. Yet the Dominican formation programme did not begin in Ibadan.
First Formation Efforts
At the time Dominicans first went to Nigeria the prevailing thinking of authorities in Rome and on the scene was that missionaries should encourage vocations to the diocesan priesthood and not for their own society or order. But towards 1960 this thinking changed, and orders were encouraged to take root in newly Christian areas, both for the international character of such orders and for the unique aspect of the life of the Church, which they represent.
The Dominicans in Nigeria always encouraged vocations to the diocesan priesthood and to the various sisterhoods. But only in 1961 did they begin to lay serious plans for vocations to their own Order: In a meeting in March 1961 it was decided to send young boys who were interested in the Order to the minor seminar. That year about seven were sent to Barakin Ladi near Jos, and in the following years others were sent there and to the minor seminary in Ibadan. But Dominican thinking turned against minor seminaries, and the plan was to send the boys to Aquinas Secondary School, which was expected to open in 1965 but did not. By 1966 it was decided not to even send boys to secondary school, but to recruit those who had already finished and obtained a General Certificate of Education With passes in a certain number of subjects. Three good Dominicans was the result of sending boys to the minor seminaries.
Candidates with the educational prerequisites for the clerical novitiate were continually presenting themselves. Everyone from Lagos to Gusau and from Chicago to Rome was scratching his head on what to do. At last England was thought to be the place least alien for Nigerians. And the first candidate, Ebere Uzosike, was sent to the novitiate in Gloucestershire in September 1961. A few months in an English cloister were too much for the poor fellow; so the first try became the first failure. Next stop was at the mother province in the United States, and the. next candidate, Alexander Okanlawon, was sent to Winona in September 1962. He finished the novitiate and made simple profession, but after two years in River Forest he was standing in line for a ticket to Lagos. Another candidate, Youssef El-Naggar, an Egyptian who met Dominicans in Lebanon and was interested in working as a Dominican in Nigeria, started the novitiate in Winona in August 1963, but he also left in his third year.
The Yaba novitiate
On 13 June 1963 Fr. Carpenter, then secretary for missions of the Order, relayed to Fr. Marr permission to open a novitiate cooperator for brothers in Yaba. Four months later three candidates long waiting for just that word were received as novices, with Fr. Moore as Novice Master until June 1964 when Fr. Windbacher took over. The upstairs of the old house was the novitiate section. On 7 October 1964 the three made first simple profession, and of the three only Bro. Chukunwonye Osunwoke persevered to second simple profession and solemn vows.
Other postulants came, and on 24 May 1965 two were accepted into the novitiate. Of these only Bro. Clement Tyulen was professed, and now solemnly professed and part of Gusau. Towards the end of 1967 and in 1968, six postulants came. Only one of these entered the novitiate now relocated in Ibadan.
Ibadan beginnings
Ibadan was not the first choice for a novitiate. In October 1964, when a common novitiate was not yet allowed, opinions were sounded for the site of the clerical novitiate. Bishop Lawton favored Zaria, Fr. Dempsey Lagos, and Frs. Moore and Nadeau the East, where Bishop Whelan had issued an invitation to come. At a meeting in January 1966 it was decided that the clerical novitiate should be started in Gusau, with Fr. Pokrzewinski as novice master; the novitiate for cooperator brothers would still be kept in Yaba, and the house of studies would be in Ibadan, where some Fathers were already teaching in the Seminary.
At the beginning of July 1966 Fr. Dempsey talked with Bishop Richard Finn, who invited the Dominicans to start their novitiate in Ibadan and offered them land near the University. The Vicariate Council met in August and approved the idea, yet recognized that Fr. Pokrzewinski was too essential for the North to be moved to Ibadan. Fr. Moore was than asked to return to Nigeria and found the house in Ibadan. Arriving in Yaba on 3 March 1967, Fr. Moore scouted Ibadan, and by the end of July had rented and moved into the house on 30 Kudeti Avenue, with Fr. Walsh still teaching at the Seminary and a troupe of postulants joining him shortly afterwards. After getting the green light from the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith and for Religious the Master General Fr. Fernandez sent word on 9 and 10 January 1968 making the Dominican Community, Ibadan, a formal house with a common novitiate for clerical and cooperator brothers, and Fr. Moore as Novice Master.
On 2 February 1968 three clerical postulants were accepted into the novitiate. Two of them Frs. John Nwanze and Callistus Iheme made profession and were later ordained. At the beginning of April 1968 Fr. Daley came to help the Community, but by then Fr. Moore was finding the job too demanding and asked to be relieved. Fr. Walsh was appointed superior and acting novice master on 20 May 1968. He became Novice Master officially on 15 November when the Master General confirmed the appointment. In September 1968 Fr. Riley arrived and was a member of the Dominican Community and a lecturer at the Seminary. On February 1969 Bros. John Nwanze and Callistus Iheme made their first profession. About the same time the Community moved to another rented house in Kongi, near Sts. Peter and Paul Seminary where the student brothers began taking most of their classes.
A new group began their novitiate on l'5 August 1969, with cooperator and clerical candidates combined for the first time. Of this class only Bros. Jude Mbukanma made profession. Since these student brothers needed separate attention from the novices, Fr. Riley was appointed Director of Students and Director of Studies.
On 7 March 1970 ground was broken for the present Dominican house and eight months later the Community moved into the guest quarters. There on 7 December 1970 another class of novices was received and three of them Bros. Ayo Atoyebi, Chikwubiken Okpechi, and Nzamujo Ugwuegbulam made their profession. Early in 1971 the Community moved into the completed novitiate section.
A class of eight began their novitiate on 19 November 1971. Four of the Bros. Daniel Chiezey, Ifeanyi Enwerem, Chris Engelo Otuibe, and Igba Vishigh, made their solemn profession on 13 February 1976. Fr. Kenny was assigned to Ibadan in September 1971 and spent part of each year teaching in the Seminary and helping with the liturgical development of the Dominican Community. Fr. Moore came in January 1972 and was appointed Director of Students. In September 1972 Fr. Kelly came to be Director of students, and Fr. Moore became superior of the house. In February 1974 Fr. Jagoe was elected the first Prior of the Community.
The Community also benefitted from countless visiting lecturers and preachers as well as being privileged to attend the lectures, seminars and cultural presentations of the University of ibadan, the institute of Church and Society, Emmanuel College, the Pastoral Institute, the Study Center for Islam and Christianity and Christ the Servant Post-Novitiate Training Centre. The latter institute came into being in January 1971 through the efforts of Dominicans and others, under the sponsorship of the National Conference of Religious. Many men and women religious from Nigeria and other African countries took the one-year course taught there by Dominicans and many others. The Center closed at the end of 1971.
The high point of the Dominican presence in Nigeria came in two events in March 1975. The first was on the 13th when Fr. Vincent de Couesnongle, Master of the Dominican Order, dedicated the house and chapel of the Ibadan Community. The second event took place on the 31st when Bishop Dempsey ordained to the priesthood Frs. Gilbert Thesing, John Nwanze and Callistus Iheme, the first Dominicans to be ordained in Nigeria. Demas Nwoko designed the Ibadan community chapel and the house.
The Vicariate Chapter of February 1979 appointed Chuwubikem Okpechi as novice master, and Riley as Director of studies. Justus Pokrzewinski was elected Prior on 5 February 1980. The Vicariate Chapter of February 1983 made Chuwubikem Student Master Ayo-Maria Atoyebi Novice Master, and Jude Mbukanma Director of Studies.
Thieves visited the community almost continuously raiding various areas of the community. They raided the refectory area and the Arts Workshop in May 1981, and ten days later they came back attempting to make away. with car but were scared away. They made other attempts in April 1983 and in March 1984 and made away with eight tires from cars They returned four months later for cars but were again scared away. They threw bottles while retreating injuring Fr. Kenny. They came back yet again and took the searchlight from the chapel tower on 8 November 1988, two days later they took the water pump and generator parts. These raids continued well into the 90s.
Potable water in the community was a critical problem for years with brothers riding in vans to collect water in plastic containers from Oba dam. In 1988 the community made its own water borehole while the Moniya land was investigated and purchased in September 1989.
Chukwubikem Okpechi was elected prior and took office in May 1992. A send off activity was held in honor of Bishop-elect Ayo-Maria in April 1992 and many of the brothers went for his ordination a month later. Peter Otilio took over as interim Novice Master until Lawrence Agu was appointed. The new novitiate plot (stadium 2) was blessed by the Vicar Provincial on March 1992 and was completed and dedicated in September 1993. The Provincial Chapter of 1993 nominated Iheanyi Enwerem as Regent/Moderator.
Computers began to be a normal feature of students' lives from about 1987, and over the years more and better ones were acquired. From 1996 the community acquired access to the e-mail and Internet services. These have been only partly satisfactory because of power offage, phone offage, server offage, or slowness of connection. The community is expected to setup a self-contained and self-sustaining system, in August 2000.
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