PRE-DEGREE/CERTIFICATE REGISTRATION/SCHOOL FEES
SSLT Wins Maiden V-C's Inter- Faculty Debate Championship By Obinna Nwodim
- Details
- Published: 04 December 2017
Debaters from the School of Science Laboratory Technology (SSLT) have emerged winners of the maiden edition of the Vice-Chancellor's Inter-Faculty Debate Championship. The three-day event was organised by the Exchange and Linkage Programmes Unit of the Vice-Chancellor's Office.
SSLT's Team A emerged winners after a keenly contested competition amongst the various Faculties and the College of Health Sciences. The Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences Team D emerged 1st Runners-Up, while Faculty of Humanities' Team A secured the 2nd Runners-Up position.
In the Public Speaking Championship category, Eremosele Dominion of the Faculty of Social Sciences emerged winner, while Dominic Okaro and Joshua Fidelis, both of SSLT emerged 1st and 2nd Runners-Up, respectively.
The milestone event came to a fitting climax on Wednesday, November 8, 2017 with the grand finale which held at the Conference Hall of the International Students' Centre, University Park with the theme: The University System and the Imperatives of a Democratic Culture.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Professor Regina Ogali, who stood in for the Vice-Chancellor, stressed the importance of dialogue for meaningful interaction among people of diverse cultural backgrounds. She expressed hope that the competition would help participants develop their public speaking skills and also accommodate opposing viewpoints.
Professor Ogali described the participants as good representatives for all other students to emulate. “I am very impressed by their performance which is indicative of the progress we have made in equipping our students with life skills that they can take to the larger society. “This is what being a university student is mainly about. Regular debates and cross-exchange of ideas would develop a total student who is prepared to engage others in debate without losing their cool. Participants are motivated to engage in research that would expose them to new ideas that may not be directly related to their subject areas in the University. Many of the good public speakers today learnt the art from participating in school debate,” the representative of the Vice-Chancellor said.
In his speech, Dean of the Faculty of Management Sciences, Professor Barisua Nwinee, praised the ELPU for packaging the event aimed at improving the students' power of elocution. Professor Nwinee, said that regular debate would help students to properly marshal out their arguments, and also enable them to become tolerant of dissenting opinion in the heat of an argument. “Logical reasoning offers students an excellent opportunity to develop their speaking skills and techniques, including creative thinking and ability to be clear and calm in public discourse,” he told the participants.
Nwinee, who chaired the event, said that the competition enabled participants to work as a team, adding that “most times, you learn from people you do not agree with than those that agree with you.”
Also speaking, initiator of the debate series and Director of the Exchange and Linkage Programmes Unit, Professor Iheanacho Akakuru, described the competition as a way of helping students to cultivate the culture of dialogue and debate in the various faculties. “Our aim is to sustain the culture of robust debate amongst our students and I believe that engaging them in this type of competition will help to strengthen their speaking skills and prepare them for leadership positions,” the Director said.
Also speaking, President of the UniPort Debate Club, Henrietta Ifyede, expressed gratitude to the ELPU Director and the University Management for supporting the initiative. She thanked them for affording participants the opportunity to showcase their talent to the University community, expressing satisfaction that the competition had impacted positively on the students.
