Students of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, have done the institution proud at the 10th edition of the All-Nigeria Universities Debate Championship (ANUDC), which took place at the Veritas University, Abuja.
The championship, which engaged students from 40 universities across Nigeria, spanned five days, beginning on Monday, August 28, and ending on Saturday, September 3 with the finale followed by a prize and award ceremony.
The programme lineup included debate and public speaking contests, in which the university delivered stellar performances. Abdulbasit Hussein emerged as the third overall best speaker and third position in the Public Speaking category while the debate team, consisting of Bunamin Balogun, Islamiyyah Oluwabukola Issa, Yusuf Aboki and Faruq Olarenwaju, reached the semi-finals.
Tribune CampusXtra gathered that the debate took a British Parliamentary format, where participants got motions 15 minutes before giving arguments, across 9 preliminary rounds, and 2 more in the semi-finals.
Bunamin, one of the debaters and a student of the Faculty of Agriculture, told this reporter how making it to the semis was awesome. Though wishing they had gone further, he enthused that their outing is the best from any institution from the Northwest or Northeast at the Nationals and a solid foundation for coming editions.
He, however, noted that “at some point, we weren’t sure we would even attend. Our institution [UDUS] not having a strong debating society is a big disadvantage considering the fact that we are debating against schools that debate regularly and have a solid debating society. Nevertheless, we have done an amazing job this year with little preparation. We are optimistic of a more successful outing next year”.
Abdulbasit, a 400-Level Political Science student who placed overall third position in the Public Speaking category, applauded the noticeable progress his university has made. Having represented UDUS and reached the semi-finals of the same category in the 9th edition, which was the university’s maiden outing in the championship, the final year student marvelled at their latest exploits.
According to him, speaking on the topics he encountered during the tournament was easy because he could relate well with them.
“I went to the competition to win. All my preparation was to be a winner, but it doesn’t have to be what you want. I am happy to be among the ten speakers who made it to the finals and also being a runner-up. Getting acknowledged by the President of the organizing committee was also a big win for us,” he said.
Continuing, he said the success at the tournament was as a result of individual effort and self motivation.
“Most of the things we did at the tournament were based on our individual efforts. We prepared ourselves for it. My fear is after we graduate, do we have Danfodites who will be at the forefront of tournaments like this? I hope the management can create a space to train Danfodites on it. Every student of Unilorin that attended the tournament went home with a medal, and that was because their school management gave them the platform to learn and grow in debating and public speaking, I wish UDUS can do the same,” he added, charging the university to invest in debating and public speaking.
Islamiyyah, a 300-Level Law student who participated in the Debate category, jollied at the honour of representing UDUS. She revealed that some of the motions they discussed are related to her course of study, but admitted that the time factor was a great hinderance, amid the burnout of the tournament itself, the pressure of competing with top schools across the country and the insatiable hunger to make the school proud.
“I urge students who have passions for public speaking and debate to join the [debate] club for the betterment of our institution,” she said, buttressing that reviving and actively engaging the UDUS Debate Club will improve Danfodites’ performance in similar tournaments.
The Deputy Dean of Student Affairs, Dr Mukhtar Isa Yabo, while reacting, commended the students for their performance at the competition. He noted that it was thrilling that their performance painted the university in glorious colours and caught the eyes of the ANUDC Council and its President, who acknowledged and congratulated them.
He also celebrated their moral conduct, saying “I am quite elated with the way our students conducted themselves during the tournament, as some students from other institutions were reported on the basis of misconduct. I am really proud of them as they represent the true meaning of Danfodites”.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE