By The Hand Warrior
The MC bellowed “Jaw war 2019!” The electrifying and high-spirited audience chanted; ” Stand up! speak up! shut up!”. “The war has just begun” The MC continued and it went on and on till the battle where words are swords began. Paired faculties and halls compete to slay each other in the war of the Jaws.
Just to chip this in, Jaw war is the biggest public speaking platform in Nigeria and as a matter of fact, the whole of West Africa. It boasts of over two thousand audience members on each of the rounds, with thousands of people streaming and following the event live on the social media.
Ranging from scintillating speeches to the mind-blowing punchlines and other tantalizing features such as the Trailer Jam, Spoken word poetry etc. Jaw war is certainly the right place to be!
This year edition has been quite an interesting one. The war has internally displaced some faculties and halls of residence. Some of the faculties knocked out in the first round include – Basic Medical Science, Economics, Public Health, Pharmacy etc. While the halls include – Kenneth Mellanby, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Alexander Brown Hall and Sultan Bello Hall. Perhaps the most shocking exits of the first round are those of Alexander Brown Hall and the Sultan Bello Hall who were shown the way out by The Great Independence Hall and the Obafemi Awolowo Hall respectively. Their deletions from the biggest public speaking platform startled everyone as these two halls of residence were the previous winners of the contest (ABH won it two years ago while Sultan Bello won it last year).
In the opinions of a keen alumnus who seemed to be very wary of the history of the war. It was even more shocking that these two Lords of public speaking were taken out of the game by two of the most underrated underdogs who have never for once, especially in recent times, proceeded from the first round to subsequent rounds. Certainly, wonders never seem to end.
Just like the uncertainties that pervade an atmosphere of a bloodbath, the war dramatically unfolded. And amidst wins and losses, the people of the Literary and Debating Society perhaps were scandalized when three constituencies – Alexander Brown Hall, Faculty of Clinical Sciences and Faculty of Dentistry pulled away from the umbrella body – TLDS (The Literary and Debating Society). Whatever reason(s) that could have amounted to this, nobody is certain of. Although rumour has it that these constituencies could have been embittered following the loss of their hall of residence to the Great Independence Hall. But this can only be mere speculations as fact has it that the Faculty of Clinical Sciences made it to the Quarter-finals and were paired with Science, only to shock the world with their absence on the D-day. there is definitely more to this than meet the eyes of observers.
As for other faculties that competed in the quarter-finals; Arts deleted The Social Sciences, Veterinary Medicine annihilated Technology, Sciences, saddled with no burden of competition walked literarily walked into the semi-finals. The ground must have shaken when the Faculty of Law bowed out after taking a beating from Education. The score difference of this defeat came as a shock to everyone at the event as one question lingered on the lips of everyone; What has wrought the Faculty of Public speaking?
No one may have an apt, complete, palatable and congruent response to this question but what everyone knows is that Education will face Arts at the semi-finals, while Vet. Medicine will face Sciences.
In the same vein, In the Quarter-final rounds of the halls, it did not come as a shock to everyone as Awolowo Hall beats off Queen Idia Hall. We were able to relate to it well, after all; did they not beat the Great Sultan Bello Hall?
Even the Blue-blooded dragons were at the mercy of Katanga warriors who flogged them down to the position of the best loser. The manifestation of this reality should not come as a shock to anyone. It is not rocket science or brain surgery to figure out why Tedder Hall lost to Indy Hall as the Katangaites must have been emboldened by their recent defeat of the Alexander Brown Hall. After all, success begets success. Also, in this round, that the great Baluba Kingdom was knocked out of the race by the Hall of great men. Among the halls that will meet at the Semi-finals which is slated to hold on 29th of November are; Awo, Indy, Kuti and Tedder. While Indy would be facing the Blue-blooded dragons, Awo would be meeting Kuti on the D-day.
As the race delves into the semifinals for both halls and faculties, the storyline changed and we witnessed bloodier wrath of the war. For halls, The Great Lord Tedder Hall was able to maintain its stance as the king of the podium as she deletes Great Independence Hall while the Queen of the podium – Obafemi Awolowo Hall defeated The Hall of Great Men, Ransome Kuti Hall, to get a pass to the finals. Heavens stood up to celebrate with the Premier Faculty(Arts) as she went against the odds to defeat the defending champions -Education. On the other hand, Vet. Medicine who are alleged to be riding on luck finally took the bowing and humbling blow from Science. If there is anything certain, it will be that the finals of Jaw war will hold on the 13th of December and will be featuring; Arts vs Science, on one hand, Lord Tedder vs Obafemi Awolowo on the other.
LESSONS TO BE LEARNT
Some may wonder if there are any lessons to be learnt from these whole Jaw war sagas. Some may dismiss it by saying; ” After all, it’s just a contest”. But a sensitive reflection will reveal the countless lessons embedded in this year’s Jaw war edition.
This year’s Jaw war edition exemplifies life itself – full of twists and uncertainties. It teaches many life’s lessons, first of which is – No one stays down forever. This brought the thoughts of the tears, sweats, hurdles and struggles that our nationalists encountered to unbind Nigeria from the shackles of colonialism and bring to her head the glorious crown of independence. No one who is willing to stay up stays down forever. The defeat of ABH and Sultan Bello by Indy and Awolowo Hall respectively is a very true testament to that. This leaves in the minds of every perceptive student that if one works toward one’s goal; then the impossibility can be made possible. And also that there are conditions that humble us in life but we must learn how to be steadfast and say no to these circumstances by refusing vehemently to stay down forever.
Secondly, it brings to the reality that no one is unbeatable; no condition or situation is insurmountable. No matter the condition you find yourself today or tomorrow, just have it at the back of your mind that no condition is impregnable or intractable. For were Sultan Bello and ABH ever told that they would be crushed by the supposed ‘underdogs’, they would think it is impossible. But it eventually happened in a fair and square game. This is a lesson to everyone to keep persevering at whatever uninviting and unpalatable situations they find themselves for victory is surely in sight.
Finally, there is a lesson on the dangers of complacency. We should always put in our best at whatever we do – especially academics etc. For life is a race and if one does not run, one would be trampled upon by those who do. As for halls and faculties who have suffered defeats. They should learn from their failure in order to strategize on how they could find their ways to the top of the ladder. The halls and faculties who are competing at the semi-finals which is scheduled to hold later this week. They should not relax in the race for the trophy.
I am The Hand Warrior and I wish all the faculties and halls of residence success. May the best win!
