Fresher's Week'24: Students' Union Holds Freshers Inter-Faculty Debate

By Adetunji Oluwafemi

The Great Ife Students’ Union on Monday, 3rd November 2024, held its planned inter-faculty debate for freshmen. The debate is part of the events that have been prepared for Fresher’s Week 2024. The event experienced a slight delay, as the venue was moved from the 1000-seater to Oduduwa Hall by the order of the school management, which requested that the initial venue be vacated because the office of the Vice President, responsible for the event, failed to seek permission before using it. The event began at 12:35 PM.

Faculties were paired and assigned topics: the Faculty of Administration and Science had the topic "Corrupt Democracies are Preferable to Dictatorships"; the Faculty of Agriculture and Dentistry debated on the topic "Subsidy is a Necessary Compromise of the Government, and Should be Implemented in Areas of Essential Public Domains"; the Faculty of Arts and Technology had the topic "Civil Disobedience is a Moral Weapon in the Fight for Justice"; Basic Medical Science and Education had the topic "The Stigmatization of Romantic Relationships Built on Materialistic Needs or Exchanges Should be Opposed"; Clinical Sciences and Social Sciences had the topic "Traditional Family Roles and Gender Roles are Incompatible with Modern Development, and This Should be Eroded"; and lastly, the Faculty of EDM and Pharmacy debated on the topic "The Evolution of Work: Remote Work Should be Prioritized Over Traditional Work Arrangements."

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The panel of judges for the debate included Ogunperi Taofeek (TAO) as the Chief Judge, along with Nenna Mercy Praise and Starious God's Power as judges. Tao, the Chief Judge, then disclosed the parameters for the debate, including Arguments Presentation, Facts Presentation, Reports, and Time Management. A faculty roll call took place after the opening prayer and the Great Ife Anthem to ensure every faculty was duly represented for the debate.

Adebowale Abdulrahim was the representative of the Faculty of Administration, while Johnson Judith and Makinde Oluwapelumi were the representatives of the Faculty of Science. The Faculty of Agriculture was ably represented by Fakunle Faith Adekunle; Ejibode Machael Oluwasegun and Abolarin Sarah Mayowa were the representatives of the Faculty of Dentistry. John Dimeji Oluwanifemi and Olaboboye Iyiola represented the Faculty of Arts, while Adebayo Emmanuel and Oladeji Teninlanimi were the representatives of the Faculty of Technology. Babalola Favour and Ishola Sarah represented the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, and Oladipupo Victoria and Zaruna Hanifat represented the Faculty of Education. Obidi Zion and Fadeyo Peace Oluwafemi represented the Faculty of Clinical Sciences, while Salawu Barakat Adeola and Jesudarasimi Ajayi represented the Faculty of Social Sciences. The Faculty of EDM was represented by Adeosun Daniel and Oluwadamilare Alake, while the Faculty of Pharmacy was represented by Yusuf Aliyat Oluwanifemi and Babafemi Precious.

The moderator of the event, Fashina Damilare (Mc D'Blaq), the immediate past Financial Secretary of the students' union, engaged the audience by doing several giveaways in the form of money, perfume, and airtime to make the event lively and captivating.

The Chief Judge, who also functioned as the timekeeper while giving out the modalities of the debates, stated that the timing for the chief speakers is 5 minutes, while the supporting speakers are to use 3 minutes. He also added that any extra 15 seconds will lead to a deduction of 1 point from the faculty whose representative is found guilty of this.

Some other side attractions were music performances of songs by OAU young talents, such as "Hello" by Cosy, "Scatter" by MAKA, and "Back to Street" by ZUKA.

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Moving on to the second round, the chief judge mentioned that only 12 of the 13 Faculties were represented in the first round of the debate because the last session's winner is automatically qualified for the second round of this session. Meanwhile, the Faculty of Technology, Social Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Pharmacy, and Education qualified alongside the Faculty of Law for the second round. Each qualified faculty is to be represented by the chief speaker alone, with a timing of 3 minutes.

It was later discovered that the Faculty of Law representatives (who qualified on the basis of being the last session's winner) were not available; therefore, the Faculty of Agriculture was asked to take the sixth spot and qualify for the second round. However, the faculty disagreed, and only five faculties moved to the second round. Impromptu debate topics were then assigned to the faculties that qualified for the second round.

In an interview with Mercy Praise, one of the judges of the debate, she clarified that the Faculty of Law could not participate in the event because most of their freshmen have still not been admitted. This led to the Faculty of Agriculture, which was in sixth place, automatically qualifying for the second round, but they withdrew from participating in the debate for an undisclosed reason.

Praise, while giving her overall opinion, stated that the debate could be improved if the contestants were given more time to prepare, perhaps by organizing a training session before the debate day.

The final round is said to be held tomorrow, November 5th, at the 1,000-seaters Lecture Theater during the Symposium, where the four faculties that made it to the finals—Clinical Sciences, Pharmacy, Social Sciences, and Technology—will go head-to-head.