-By: Theophilus Femi Alawonde
Ifeoluwa Emmanuel, after spelling ichthyosaurus, won University of Ibadan’s first spelling bee, flooring Emeka and Fatiah to second and third places respectively. The spelling bee, which was held at Faculty of Social Sciences Large Lecture Theatre on Saturday, 23 June 2018, recorded a whooping number of 50 contestants. Slated to start at 10 a.m., the bee started at 10:50 a.m., anchored by Sophia and Daniel Ugochukwu. The bee had three rounds of 30, 20 and 17 contestants respectively and a final round of ten contestants till the final three were picked, with interlude of performances by Mc Twinkle, Wale Rapper, Oluwumi, Adeyemi, Gold, Amber and Geejokes. The judges, Tobi Emmanuel, Bernard Idris and Yekeen Ayomide had a hard time with the audience and some contestants on some words pronounced. The first round and its sub-round saw 19 contestants out, the second round and its sub-round saw 14 contestants out, the third had ten contestants left, till Ifeoluwa, Fatiah and Emeka were left. Ifeoluwa Emmanuel, not misspelling any word, went home with a grand prize of 50, 000 naira and a plaque, while the two runner-ups went home with plaques too. Ife is to join the panel of judges at the OAU and UNILAG bees.
