Inspire Africa, a social education organisation, has announced the finalists for its 2021 oratory competition organised young Nigerians, and has also set the grand finale of the contest for Saturday in Lagos.
The co-founder and CEO of the organisation, Cynthia Mene, made this known to Tribune Online on Monday.
She noted that out of the total number of the participants for the contest, only twelve made it to the finalist stage, and that the five contestants that were dropped at the knockout stage will still be around to assist the finalists with research and other assistance they need for the grand finale.
“It has been an entertaining, as well as informative, build-up to the Orators Grand Finale,” Mene said. “Youth in Nigeria have always shown that they are not shorn of ideas and that if they can express themselves, they can drive positive change.”
Mr Blessing Mene, the co-founder of Inspire Africa and the convener of Orators, stated that as each of the orators told their story, one could not help but feel that their narrations needed much greater reflection due to the depth and relevance of their subjects.
Oluwatosin Adeyeye, one of the orators who made it to the finals, narrated a fictional story of his friend’s parents’ deaths after calling him on the phone without answers. “My anger turned to sadness due to change in perspective,” Adeyeye said.
One of the judges of the contest was Titi Ojo, who is also a mentor of orators. She noted that the way people speak can be broken down into several elements like loudness, pace, pause and intonation, etc., and that these elements play an important role in communication.
Chinedu Chidi, another one of the judges and mentor of the orators, noted that, when delivering speeches in a competition, one should guard against using phrases or ideas that have been overused. He also noted that while it is good to prepare for a debating competition by rehearsing and mastering what you are going to say, flexibility in delivering your speech is important if you want to instil within your audience a sense of authority over your subject.
Dr Benjamin Wayo, an award-winning public speaker, was also a judge of the contest and also a mentor for the young orators.
At some point in event, Mr Mene pointed out that, if oratory were football, these young orators “would be the Jay Jay Okocha and Kanu Nwanko of the Nigerian Super Eagles.”
In commiseration with the five finalists who were knocked out in the last two rounds, Mr Mene hope they have taken a lot from the experience, and that they will continue to learn from the Orators programme until its conclusion.
“Next up in the knockout stages, the remaining twelve orators will be formed into four teams to debate each other at the Grand Finale on July 17,” Mr Mene said. “Afterwards, each orator will deliver two speeches from which the 2021 Orator of the Year will be determined by the judges.”
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Lagos Is Second Least Liveable City In The World For 2021
Lagos is the second least liveable city in the world for the year 2021. This is according to the most recent annual ranking put together by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)…
CLAIM 1: A Twitter user claims UNICEF said any efforts to block children from accessing pornography might infringe their human rights.
VERDICT: MISLEADING!
and then