By Oluwademilade Ogunleye
On Thursday, 16th of October 2025, the University of Ibadan Student Union held the second edition of her annual Inter House Sports competition at the New Awo stadium. The event which was held as part of the activities to mark the ‘Auspicious team’ organized student union week tagged ‘Ivory Fest’ was one that came with a show of nostalgia as different houses competed across several sports. The 12 Halls of residence in the University of Ibadan were all grouped into four houses for the competition: Green house, Blue House, Red House and Black House.
Queen Elizabeth II Hall, Ransome Kuti Hall and Kenneth Mellanby Hall were all grouped to compete as Green house while Ayodele Falase Hall, Alexander Brown Hall and Lord Tedder Hall were to be called Blue House. On the other hand, Obafemi Awolowo Hall, Abdulsalam Abubakar Hall and Nnamdi Azikwe Hall were the occupants of red house as Queen Idia Hall, Great Independence Hall and Sultan Bello Hall were paired in Black house.
The events of the day which was supposed to begin at 9:30 pm did not start until 3 hours later. The Sporting festivities of the day officially began at exactly 12:32 pm with the 1500 metres race, featuring both the male and female categories running a mixed race. This long distance event set the energetic tone for the day.
At exactly 1:08 pm, the event was officially declared open with a coordinated display by the University of Ibadan Man O’War team. Their parade performance was ceremonial as they led the entire stadium in the recitation of the National anthem, officially opening the event.
Shortly after the anthem, the competition resumed with the female sack race, where Black house (Queen Idia Hall) stole the spotlight by clinching the top spot in that category. The male sack race followed shortly after with Blue House (Tedder Hall) taking the win in that category.
The 400m Female race followed, as Red, Green and Black houses competed fiercely. Green House (Queen Elizabeth II Hall) dominated the track, clinching both gold and silver, while Red house (Obafemi Awolowo Hall) secured third place. The male 400m race came next, with all four houses competing this time. The race began with red house taking an early lead, and they did not let go as they eventually clinched both first and second place in a show of dominance.
Following the conclusion of the first set of races, the March past took center stage as Green, Black and Red houses proudly donned jerseys in their house colours. The three houses displayed coordinated and colourful performances with each house parading with a King and Queen, in line with the usual inter-house sports tradition.
Red House began the march past parade as their team commander led the charge, formally presenting the King and Queen to the judges as the team marched past and gave their salute with precision and flair.
Black house came next, with a stellar performance that drew cheers and applause from the fans in the stands. They displayed several marching skills and their performance was highlighted by their Queen who gracefully presented a flower bouquet to the judges, earning cheers and applause.
Green house had the last parade of the day as they executed multiple stunts during their march past that added excitement and creativity to their display.
The UI Man O’War team also performed their march past, saluting the judges and adding to the ceremony’s grandeur.
Just after the March past, the female category of the Hall Chairpersons’ race took center stage. In this competition, each chairperson had to pick cones into their basket and dash to the finish line. Representing their respective halls and houses with pride, the crowd cheered them on. At the end of the race, Akinlawon Goodluck of Obafemi Awolowo Hall (Red House) came in first, Jiggy of Queen Elizabeth II Hall (Green House) finished second while Nini of Queen Idia Hall (Black House) took the third position. The race sure added humour, excitement and a burst of energy to the day’s events. The male Hall Chairperson’s race followed and this time, it was a 100m dash. The short but intense race saw Mubarak of Mellanby Hall (green house) taking first place followed closely by Tifase of Indy Hall (Black house) in second place.
The next event was the 200m race for the female category. Here, Queen Idia Hall (Black house) claimed first place, followed by Green house in second and Red house in third. For the male category of the 200m race, Blue House came first while red house followed closely in second.
The Inter house sport day was given a twist as the final match of the female category of the Inter-Faculty football competition too place during the event. That match saw the Faculty of Science defeat their social science counterparts on penalties to be crowned champions.
Right after the Inter Faculty final, the female category of the skipping race took place with red House clinching gold in that one. For the male category, VK of Black house clinched first position with Bade of Blue house coming close second.
The 800 meters female race came next and Queen Elizabeth II Hall (Green house) emerged victorious. For the male category, Black house took gold while Blue house came first runner up.
The day also featured the 100m races for both the male and female categories. In the male category, it was a keenly contested affair as both representatives of the Black house and Red house got to the finish line at the same time. For the male category, Queen Idia Hall (Black house) took first.
The Relay races were the last event of the day. For the female category, black house, again, came first with Green and Red House coming 2nd and 3rd respectively. The tale was however different in the male category as Blue House came first with Black, Red and Green houses coming 2nd, 3rd and fourth respectively.
At the end of activities for the day, the judges announced the overall result. Blue House came fourth place, Green house took the third spot, Red house came second while Black house consisting of the trio of Bello, Indy and Idia Hall, who coincidentally came into the competition as defending champions, emerged winners.
The second edition of the UISU Inter House sports was organized by the Union’s Sport Secretary, Victor Kolawole, who was also the brain behind the first edition. It was an event that provided both participants and fans an opportunity to relive childhood memories. It’s surely one to remember for the ages.
