It was a beehive of activities as Federal, State and Private owned Universities across the length and breadth of the country Nigeria, gathered at the famous Veritas University Abuja, for the 2023 Annual All Nigerian Universities Debate Championship (ANUDC) which held from 27th August to 3rd September, 2023. The 10th edition which themed “Youth, Governance and Sustainable Development: the Future we desire,” had in attendance, debaters and delegates drawn from Nineteen Universities.
Crane de la cranes and men from the corridors of power were on ground to witness the opening ceremony. Among them were, veteran Nollywood Actor and the Presidential spokesman for the Labour Party, Dr. Kenneth Okonkwo; former Minister of Youth Development, former Minister of sport and the former National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi. While delivering a speech entitled “Beyond the Certificate: Positioning Nigerian University Graduates for Productivity and Competitiveness”, Mallam Abdullahi stated that “Like in most countries of the world, demand for university education in Nigeria is driven by two main assumptions. One is the compelling evidence that better graduates have greater positive impacts on economic growth. The second is that the surest path to ascending to higher social and economic standing is by acquiring a University Degree. For many years, historical evidence has supported these assumptions.” Speaking further, Bolaji added that even in the face of what he described as “stark reality of graduate unemployment”, the appetite of Nigerians for university education has not waned.
The final round of the debate tournament had four Federal Universities including University of Lagos, University of Nigeria Nsuka, University of Ibadan and University of Ilorin. The University of Ilorin emerged the first runner up, while University of Ibadan came second runner up. University of Nigeria, Nsuka took the trophy having emerged champion of the year. The Vice Chancellor of Veritas University Abuja while presenting the trophy to the students, acknowledged the critical thinking skills of the students and their ability to speak to the topics which were given on the spur of the moment.
Written by
Enuwa Evelyn Obekpa, PRO, Veritas University, Abuja