Debating solutions to Nigeria’s ills

Many vice chancellors did not attend but sponsored their delegates and officials.Organisers said that the championship was to prepare Nigerian universities for the upcoming pan-African Universities Debate Championship billed to hold from 29th November to 6th December 2013 at the University of Calabar.The universities that participated  were Bayero University Kano who sent in four debaters, […]

Many vice chancellors did not attend but sponsored their delegates and officials.
Organisers said that the championship was to prepare Nigerian universities for the upcoming pan-African Universities Debate Championship billed to hold from 29th November to 6th December 2013 at the University of Calabar.
The universities that participated  were Bayero University Kano who sent in four debaters, Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma, 4, University of lagos,6, University of Science and Technology Port Harcourt, 4, University of Uyo, 4, Cross River State University of Technology,4, Imo State University, 2 and Michael Okpara University owerri,3 and the host University of Calabar, 4.  
From these numbers, eight ‘master debaters’ were randomly selected for the first day debate whose topic was “This house will eradicate corruption in 2020 through televised criminal trial.”
The championship showed that in spite of challenges confronting educational system in the country, there are Nigerian students who are resilient, studious and can give very good account of themselves when occasions demand it.
The debaters, all in their teens and 20s, were paired and given the topic only at the venue, exhibited very good command of the English language, maturity in their grasp of  both national and world issues, dexterity in explanation, arguments and rebuttals as they handled the topic under debate.
The convener of the championship, Professor Eze Bassey Eze explained that though there are many debate styles at tertiary level, but that they chose British Parliamentary Debate system because it is the continental format and world universities debating style.
This inaugural champion was sponsored by both the University of Calabar and the Independent Corrupt Practises Commission (ICPC).
UNICAL vice chancellor James Epoke said that whereas many universities in Africa and elsewhere have engaged in inter-universities debate for a long time yet it was surprising that Nigerian universities did not yet imbibe the import.
“It would not be wise that after our University, our country was given the right to host the pan-African universities debate championship for the first time, our own students who would be the principal debaters are themselves not prepared or attuned to the modern trend,” he said.
The VC said the inaugural championship would also help them to build up a critical mass of adjudicators and debaters for the continental event.
Lamenting that the concept of debate at the tertiary level seemed to have been hijacked by universities in Southern Africa, he said: “The University of Calabar was the first to participate in the first continental debate at Windhoek, Namibia in 2009.  In 2010, we attended the championship at Bostwana and were there again in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in 2011 where we won the bid to host it in 2013.  Last year, at the championship held at Tshawane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa we were again the only Nigerian university.”
Epoke disclosed that after Nigerian has hosted the Pan-African Universities Debate, Cameroon and Ghana would subsequently do so in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Harping on the need for entrenchment of debate in the university system, the convener, Prof Eze asserted that higher education in the country was facing a lot of threats from poor funding, industrial disputes, reduction in the level of public support, low student moral, poor facilities and general loss of interest in pure scholarship.
He said one way of responding to these challenges was to speak out in an attempt to find solutions to them and that is the reason the debate championship was introduced.
With the theme of the championship as ‘Corruption, Insecurity and National Development’, Prof Eze said when students themselves come together to speak out on national issues it would further engender broader democracy.  “We believe that a society that keeps quiet in the face of tyranny is a primitive society,” he said.
He called on Nigerian universities to partner with UNICAL to develop debate as a democratic core-value and enlightenment alternative to resolving disputes.
Said Larry Odey, Speaker of Cross River State Assembly: “The initiative for this House of Debate is very important in view of the cancer of corruption, menace of insecurity and violence which have challenged the country in recent times.  All over the world, there are countries that have made significant progress in science and technology.  This is because of the contents and knowledge-based of their system. Japan, for instance, is least endowed yet has made tremendous advancement all because of varied opportunities such as freedom to debate current issues and application of their human capital.”
Encouraging the inclusion of debate as part of university system, the speaker maintained that knowledge would be meaningless except it is shared and gainfully applied and would resultantly takes care of many problems. “This debate is meant to achieve much more especially as we cross-breed ideas which are geared towards addressing our twin-cancer of insecurity and corruption.”
On why the ICPC has become deeply involved in partnering universities especially in the area of combating corruption, chairman of the commission, Mr Ekpo Nta who was represented at the event by the director of education, Mohammed Baba, said that they will continue to engage campus clubs to promote debate on sensitive national issues. “ICPC has inaugurated several anti-corruption clubs in secondary schools and universities and will continue to encourage debating activities as part of a lifelong learning process for constructive engagement.  ICPC prevents corruption through system study and review,” he added.