By: Olanshile Ogunrinu
The sessional public speaking event by the University of Ibadan Literary and Debating Society kicked off on Tuesday in a dramatic and exhilarating mood with halls of residence taking on one another in the first round of the Inter-hall debate category.
The first round was held at the New Faculty Lecture Theatre (NFLT) of the Faculty of Technology.
The event which started around 6 pm began with the Queen Idia Hall going against the Great Independence Hall as they debate on the topic, “Should Sports Organizations Ban Countries Based on Socio-Political Issues? The Idiates who argued in favour of the topic were excellent in their arguments and scored 65.2% points but that was not enough to beat the duo of Salami Tiolu and Adebayo Abdulrahman who represented the Great Independence Hall and edged with 66.83% points.
The duel between Nnamdi Azikwe Hall and Queen Elizabeth II Hall took place next as they argued on the topic, “Should Corporal Punishment be banned among school-aged children? Zik Hall was represented by Bodunde Ebenezer and Tijani Abdulkabeer who argued in favour of the topic and emerged victorious with 65% points against the Queenites’ 59%.
Alexander Brown Hall took on Ransome Kuti Hall in the next round as they debated the topic, “Should Network Neutrality be Legalized? The Brownites argued in favour of the motion but their best was not enough as their 63.8% points could not secure a win over the Kutites who had 67.66%.
Lord Tedder Hall and Obafemi Awolowo Hall argued on the topic, “Key to Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria: Health Insurance or Health Personnel?” This ended with the Tedderites narrowly securing a win with 66.8% points against the Awoites who had 65.67%.
The final round for the night took place between Sultan Bello Hall and Kenneth Mellanby Hall as they argued on the topic, “Should Nigeria Favour Value-Based Healthcare Model? The duo of Akinyare David and Mong Victor represented the Mellanbites as they spoke in favour of the topic, however, their 69.33% was not enough to secure a win over the Bellites’ 75.12%, the highest points in the first leg of the inter-hall rounds. Barnabas Micheal and Chineke Ugochukwu, who represented the Sultan Bello Hall were crowned Overall best speaker and second best speaker respectively.
