​UITES SET RECORD, LAUNCH FIRST ANTHOLOGY OF SPEECHES

Students of the University of Ibadan have launched what happens to be the first anthology of speeches by students of tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

The book which is titled “Lines from the Fount” was edited by Mr. Kunle Adebajo, a final year law student of the university.

The launch of the book took place during the opening ceremony of Jaw War 2017, the largest public speaking debate in the University of Ibadan and witnessed by numerous students and staff of the University of Ibadan.

“Lines from the Fount” is a compilation of speeches from several speech writers and public speakers who are either students or alumni of the 69-year old institution.

While discussing the rationale behind the publication of the book, Mr. Kunle Adebajo explained that the book aims at filling the existing gap in the field of public speaking and also serves the purpose of record-keeping for speeches from which ideas leading to the solutions to our numerous problems as a country could be derived.

He mentioned that the book will serve as a guide for every student and other members of the Society in developing themselves in the area of public speaking and speech writing.

According to Mr. Kunle, “We have many lofty aspirations, part of which include filling a void within the realm of public speaking, especially on campus — the void of transience and lack of documentation. We wish to also make it a guide for budding speakers and a go-to publication for the best of intellectual outputs from Nigerian youth.”

When quizzed on the plan for the money to be derived from the sales of the book, Mr. Kunle explained that the proceeds generated from the book which is currently sold for a thousand naira will be donated to the course of improving the conditions of students with special needs within the University of Ibadan.

“We want to donate the proceeds from this maiden edition to the Special Persons’ Club, University of Ìbàdàn. Trust me, students with one physical challenge or the other on campus have a lot of needs. A lot. And they need as much help as they can get. We really hope the project is supported not just by students by people far and wide so that this dream may become reality”, he said.

It was gathered that the current publication of “Lines from the Fount” happens to be the first volume, which implies that subsequent volumes will be released.

While ascertaining the validity of the information gathered, the editor made it known that the call for submission of speeches will soon be released, as plans are on ground to ensure the publication of volume two around this time next year, however, with a larger scope of contributors.

In his words, “we have no plan to make this a one-time project. We will soon put out a call for submissions for the second edition, which should be released around this period next year. It is very likely that this second edition will be made open to students beyond the University of Ibadan, and across the federation.”

It is worthy of note that the blurb of the book was written by several intellectual minds such as; Professor Idowu Olayinka, Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan; Dr Festus Adedayo, Former Special Adviser on Media to the Governor of Oyo State; Noah Yusuf, Professor of Industrial Sociology, University of Ilorin; Goodness Kolawole, Director, The Speech Academy; and Muhammed Tosin Abdullahi, Writer, Forbes Contributor and CEO of Oxygenmat Ltd. While the foreword was written by Mr. Frank Nweke II, Former Minister of Information and Communications.

“I dare to make this categorical claim on account of reading this anthology: Going by the ideas espoused by the contributors in this anthology and the bursting-at-its-seam potentials that are manifest in the anthology, without equivocation, the Nigerian nation should look forward to the explosion into greatness of the youth whose intellectual depth is mirrored in it”, the foreword reads in part.

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