“I am quite sure that if I had joined from 100-Level, I would have been more than where I am now,” Lateefah Bagidi, a final-year student of English Literature from Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS) expressing her excitement after discovering her oratory skill at UDUS Debate Club (UDC).
Lateefah immersed herself with passion in debate when she first joined the club in 300-Level which was introduced to her by Deputy Dean Student Affairs of the university, Dr Mukhtar Tukur. The club had positive effects on her within a short time.
Late last year, Lateefah added a medal to her galore of success. She emerged as one of the top 5 best speakers at the University Debate Championship (UDC 1.0), an inter-faculty debate organized by the UDC. Her constant practice paid off, she now sees debate and public speaking as her calling.
Few months ago, Lateefah was selected for the university’s combined convocation debate. Her confidence on the bigger stage won her many admirers. During the event, she emerged as the best speaker, collecting N50,000 cash prize. She was surprised by her achievement after performing wonderfully.
“I do regret joining late. Everything I am learning from the club is nothing but positive, in both debating aspects and public speaking,” she expressed.
Also, Muhammad Jawad Oloruntoyin, a 300-Level Law student heard about the Debate club in 2021, during his 100-Level. On his way to Minimart, he was lucky to meet a man who told him about UDC. His encounter with the man became a blessing after joining the club. Apart from overcoming stage fright, he improved on his academic, speaking ability and critical thinking.
However, Oloruntoyin didn’t discover his talent without challenges. In his early days as a debater, he struggled to balance his academics with oratory performance. But later, after a closer review of his tight schedule, the task became easy for him. He balanced both his time of study with debate practice.
“Debate is something I love to do, it’s my passion. Before, it affected my academic schedule but then it’s all about sacrifice and rescheduling. I can’t rely on my academics alone and I’ve been able to learn how to schedule myself,” he stated.
Oloruntoyin had been graciously rising as a great debater. His team emerged second position last session during the inter-faculty debate tournament. Rounding himself with more success, he personally won first position at NAKSS oratory contest last semester, which earned him a huge cash prize.
UDC Inspired Many Talents
Another student, Olarewaju Umar Faruq, a 400-Level student from the Faculty of Law, also benefited from UDC before rising to become vice president of the club. As one of the pioneers of the club, Olarewaju revealed the inspiration behind establishing UDC.
“The inspiration behind establishing the club of this nature is to create an environment where talents will be detected and people who have the ability to speak can have the platform to explore,” he explained with a sense of fulfillment.
Olarewaju and other co-founders, Amina Ilos and Osunbiyi came up with the initiative four years ago, starting from the Faculty of Law in order to enable new students who have talents for debate and public speaking to practice. After making much effort, the club blossomed with fine orators, then they registered it officially with the school management.
In furtherance, he expressed his admiration for the good impact the club is making on students. “We are doing well in many competitions. And we’ve excelled so much. Today, UDC has a large number of members who are always ready to represent the school in any type of debate at any time.”
UDC Will be a National Champion
Bunyamin Balogun, the incumbent president of UDC said he wants to see the debate club as a national champion. As a skillful debater himself, he tirelessly guides the members of UDC on different tactics and strategies which inspire them to harness their skills.
“The plan to sustain UDC after graduation starts today. Last year, we organized our first grand debate and it was a huge success. We were able to discover a lot of talents and I would say here that some of those talents would be going to the national in Abuja this year to represent the school.
Bunyamin continued, “Last year, we got to the semi-finals at All Nigeria Universities Debate Competition (ANUDC) and we got third position in the public speaking category. We seek for more this year.”
Expressing his passion and commitment, Balogun envisioned UDC to win national and international tournaments in the next five years in order to become a star from the West African Debating Championship among African Universities.
“This is something that is dear to my heart. The first time we participated in the nationals as representative of Usmanu Danfodiyo University was in 2022 and we did not pass the preliminary rounds at all.”
“Subsequently, we went back with more motivation and we got to the semi-finals round. We were no more contented with just going to tournaments and doing good. Right now, the goal is to win the national competitions,” Bunyamin boasted.
