The Order of Preachers (OP), an order of Catholic priests also called Dominicans, paid a courtesy visit to IITA Headquarters on 1 February to discuss areas of collaboration between IITA and the Order. The OP was founded in 1816 by Saint Dominic de Guzman, and its impact on people’s livelihood has grown over the years.
Reverend Father Francis Chiadi, OP Chairman, Senate Ceremonial Committee, Dominican University, gave a general introduction about the Order. He highlighted the University’s desire to explore its agricultural potential by incorporating research activities to empower its team in the new site in Omotoso, Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria.
“We want to get involved in capacity development including training, knowledge sharing, and technology dissemination; technical support for commercial agricultural production and processing technologies; and visits to IITA by students of the Dominican University,” he stated.