UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR EMERGES 2ND POSITION IN THE JUST CONCLUDED 11TH ALL-NIGERIA UNIVERSITIES DEBATING CHAMPIONSHIP

The University of Calabar  Debate and Public Speaking team emerged 2nd Position after a keenly contested intellectual battle in the just concluded All-Nigeria Universities Debating Championship hosted by Veritas University, Abuja. One of its speakers, Collins Undelikwo from the department of Computer Science was crowned OVERALL BEST SPEAKER

of the 2024 competition. The University also clinged 3rd Position in Public Speaking.

The championship which commenced on September 8 - 14, 2024 took participants through 7 preliminary debate rounds featuring topics from sports, citizenship, society and culture, public policy, economics and taxation, politics, etc had in participation over 20 institutions including the host Veritas University, Afe Babalola University, University of Ilorin, University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State University, University of Maiduguri, among others.

The UNICAL representatives include: Collins Undelikwo from the department of Computer Science, Williams Oju from the department of Biochemistry, Victor Bisong, faculty of Law, Nathan Victor, department of history and international studies, Miracle Ime from faculty of Law and Mr. Franklin Ubi, the Debate and Public Speaking Coach.

The All-Nigeria Universities Debating Championship (ANUDC) is the biggest debating and public speaking competition in Nigeria which is held annually. It engages University students, the cream of the Nigeria population on educational discussions on how to shape the future of our society and develop their critical thinking skills, tolerance and appreciation of differing point of views. It is the intellectual equivalent of NUGA.

The University of Calabar made history as the team with the highest number of qualifications to the finals of the competition (a record 8 finals qualifications). It has won the championship twice, the first time in 2013 and the second in 2017.

Breaking news: Unical Team qualifies for finals of National Debate Competition

 The University of Calabar Debate team has qualified for the finals of My Nigeria Our Nigeria National Debate Competition for tertiary institution organised by Yiaga Africa with support from Open Society Foundation and in collaboration with the All- Nigeria Universities Debating Championship, the National Universities Commission and some media organisations. The Debate team emerged victorious after scoring 11 points out of 12 possible points defeating University of Benin, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, River State University, among others at a south-south zonals encounter held at Port Harcourt. 

24 institutions across the 6 geo-political zones debated at the zonal levels, only 8 qualified qualified for the final rounds to be held in Abuja on the 17th and 18th of August, 2024 at the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies. Unical will once again slog it out with other zonal champions for the first prize position which will be broadcast live across various national television channels and social media platforms. 

The University of Calabar team was represented by Victor Bisong from the Faculty of Law and Collins Undelikwo from the department of computer science and was led by the University Debate and Public Speaking Coach, Mr. Franklin Ubi.

GSS EXAMS STAMPEDE: BARR MAXWELL CLARIFIES, AFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO SERVICE DELIVERY

 GSS EXAMS STAMPEDE: BARR MAXWELL EBA CLARIFIES, AFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO SERVICE DELIVERY

By Ndifon Joseph

Barr Maxwell Eba, the Deputy-Director of the Centre for General Studies (CGS) at the University of Calabar, has clarified issues on the recent GSS Exams stampede, shedding light on the incident where some  students suffered injuries and trauma.

During a radio discussion titled "A Glance At GSS Examination In The University Of Calabar" on Unical Radio International 103.5 FM, hosted by Franklin Ubi

on Tuesday, November 14th, 2023, Barrister Maxwell clarified that the stampede resulted from students' pressure on the gate. This pressure was from students who missed exams the previous day due to heavy rainfall, those not scheduled to write in the morning of Saturday, or those not part of the scheduled exercise at all . They forced their way into the venue, leading to a surge that damaged the gate and resulted in students at the front being trampled.

He emphasized the swift response of the CGS Management, the University Authority, including coordination with medical units at the Medical Centre and Teaching Hospital. The Deputy-Vice Chancellor, Prof. P. C. Okafor, together with his wife (a Medical Doctor), the Director CGS and the President of the Nigerian Union of Campus Journalists (NUCJ), Unical Chapter, Sandra Micheal, were present to address the emergencies. The rumour regarding the death of a pregnant woman was clarified, with Barrister Maxwell stating that she was in good health, and both she and her baby were stable.

Encouraging students not to lose trust in the Centre, he reiterated the commitment of management to effective service delivery and its longstanding tradition and philosophy.

Established in 1979 in response to the Federal Government's directive, the Centre for General Studies at the University of Calabar plays a vital role in promoting national awareness through its curriculum.

UNICAL GSS CBT EXAMINATION: PROF OJUA, SETTING RECORDS STRAIGHT

UNICAL GSS CBT EXAMINATION: PROF OJUA, DIRECTOR CENTER FOR GENERAL STUDIES, SETS THE RECORDS STRAIGHT
 
On Saturday, the 11th of November, 2023, University of Calabar students who were scheduled to write Computer Based Test (CBT) GSS Examination, set out to write their exams without any premonition that the exercise will be marred by an unfortunate incident of Stampede casualties, leading to the  indefinite suspension of the examination as a result of some medical emergency.
 
Unfortunately, some people saw the incident as an avenue for making headlines and attracting traffic to their platforms and blogs. While some built on hurried publications and posts to re-create stories, others merely found new opportunities to further their negative publicity on the University of Calabar in such a critical time of the life of the University. In all of these, facts were misrepresented, skewed and disseminated, with brazen misinformation about what exactly happened. Based on the high level of misconception and misconstruction of the facts, the Directorate of the Center for General Studies (CGS) deemed it necessary to set the following records straight. 
 
Ø  That GSS(General Studies) Exams, was scheduled to commence on Wednesday, 8th of November 2023. On Thursday the 9th of November 2023, Exams was successfully conducted, with all scheduled students,  finishing before 4:00pm.
Ø  That the Exams of Friday, the 10th of November 2023 started successfully by 8am, until the heavy rain and storms began at about 10am, causing the stoppage of the examination until the rain and flood subsided at about 3pm, when some students returned to write the exams till about 5pm. And while it was raining, and flooding heavily , a group of students rather than move out of the rain to take refuge on nearby buildings, preferred to stand in the rain despite pleas and announcements from the staff of the Center, man O'War and security men.
Ø  That the examination of Saturday, the 11th of November 2023, started smoothly, with the 3rd set, almost concluding, before students who either missed exams, were not scheduled to write in the morning or were not even part of the examination, became unruly, uncontrollable, impatient, defiant, by wanting to  break into the exam venue forcefully.
Ø  That as a result of an unprecedented surge by a mass of students, the gate leading to the venue of the CBT Center, Academic Publishing Center (APC), was destroyed by a violent push, resulting in a serious Stampede, as those in the front lines, fell on the ground, and trampled on. It took the effort of the staff and some students to salvage the situation, while rushing the casualties to the University Medical Center and the Teaching Hospital.
Ø  That 14 students were rushed to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, and 7 (seven) at the Medical Center, for emergency treatment. And before 5pm, more than 10 students were discharged and taken home, remaining just a few who were to be further examined, even though they were fully stabilized and recuperated.
Ø  That the Director of the Center, Prof Takim Asu Ojua, the Deputy Director Maxwell Eba, the NUCJ Team, in company of The Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research and Linkages, Prof. P. C. Okafor visited both UCTH and the Medical l Center, to ascertain that all the casualties were fully stabilized. They were all spoken to directly, and their information documented.
Ø  That no one died during or after the incident, even though it was reported on some social media handles that some students died during the pandemonium.
Ø  That before now, GSS CBT exams has held successfully in the same venue, with a capacity of taking up to 450 (four hundred and fifty) students per set, without any hitch with a larger number, writing and finishing before 4:00pm each day.
Ø  That the fully equipped CBT Center, has the capacity to conduct larger examinations such as the last UTME (Jamb) which had a far higher number of students than those sitting for Gss Exams.
Ø  That the Examination was scheduled in batches, with specific faculties scheduled to write on stipulated time and dates. Unfortunately, some students refused to abide by the Time Table Schedule and rather decided to gate- crash by forcing the gate to open, resulting in the avoidable, unfortunate and regrettable incident.
Ø  That the essence of the introduction of the GSS CBT exams by the school management was to ensure fast service delivery, easy access to examination and results and to reduce the stress on students during  examination periods.
Ø  That stories and narratives making rounds on social media about the number of casualties, deaths, lack of venues and accommodation for the exams, insufficient Computers etc, are wholesomely untrue and does not reflect the situation on ground, considering the fact that GSS CBT examination has been ongoing since 2020.
 
The Management and staff of the Center, regrets the occurrence of this ugly incident, which was avoidable, had the students kept to the scheduled Time Table, not destroy the canopies and maintained the queues as instructed.
 
Accordingly, family members are assured of the safety of our children who were affected by the Stampede as management is in close touch with the students and some family members to ensure that they recuperate fully.
 
Students are therefore advised to travel as the exams has been suspended till further notice. 
So help us God. 
 
Prof Takim Asu Ojua 
Director, Center for General Studies

JOIN UNICAL DEBATE AND PUBLIC SPEAKING CLUB

 

Registration is open to University of Calabar students interested in sharpening their debate and public speaking skills. Click here or scan the barcode to register. Registration is free.

UCDC trains 25 Unical students in broadcasting

The workshop held at the University of Calabar Debate and Public Speaking secretariat located at the basement of the UNICAL International Conference Centre from September 12 - 15, 2023.  25 students were trained on broadcasting, equipping them with soft, technical and app skills necessary for On-Air Presentation. The training focused on on-air presentation skills such as script writing, programme management, content creation, broadcasting ethics, among others. The Guest trainer, Mr. Prince Alobi, a broadcaster from Radio Nigeria put participants through hours of rigorous theoretical and practical instructions that significantly impacted their knowledge of broadcasting. He was assisted by the Debate and Public Speaking Coach, Mr. Franklin Ubi

APPLY NOW FOR SOUTH SOUTH UNIVERSITIES DEBATING CHAMPIONSHIP

The University of Calabar, in collaboration with Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), will host the maiden Debate Championship for students of Federal and State Universities in the South-South Zone of Nigeria, from June 10 to 14, 2012.
The theme of the event, Nigeria’s Oil: In Search of Good Governance has been chosen to give our students, largely Nigerian youths, an opportunity to grapple with the contemporary challenges of citizenship and governance, generate and canvass ideas towards influencing policies that affect them and others in society.
We believe that your students, like ours, will derive immense benefits from the training and experiences incidental to their full participation. Consequently, we are pleased, on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, University of Calabar, to invite your University to the maiden experience of the championship.

 

Adjudication

Every institution registering debaters would equally be expected to register adjudicators, in line with the N Rule, which requires the registration of one (1) adjudicator for every two (2) teams.

We have a team of experienced adjudicators that will train and work with other registered adjudicators to ensure professionalism throughout the tournament.

Registration                                                                                            The total Team Cap is set at 20 debaters and 20 Adjudicators). Every Institution will be expected to register 2 teams. The registration procedure is as follows:

·        Each participating University is required to forward, Online, a list of its delegates, giving details of each person’s Name, Gender, Department, Year of Study, Status (whether Student Delegate, or Accompanying Staff Adjudicator/Observer) and Phone Number.

·        A modest registration fee of N5, 000 per participant will be paid on arrival at the venue.

Note:

·       Participating Universities will not be required to pay for the accommodation or feeding of their delegates. These, together with local transportation, will be provided by the Organizers throughout the duration of the Championship.

·       Accommodation will be provided at Unical Hotel and Student Delegates will be in paired, in chalets, while Accompanying Staff Adjudicators will not be paired.

·       Accompanying Staff who are not registered as Adjudicators will be admitted as Observers but they will be required to fund their stay.

Timeline for Registration                                                                                           Participating Universities are required to conclude the Online registration of their delegates not later than JUNE 4, 2012. Registration received after that date will be discountenanced.

Confirmation of Registration                                                                
Each University will receive a confirmation notice within 24 hours of its registration. Details of the allocation of Slots will be published and, or, communicated to duly registered institutions within 48 hours, from the close of registration.
APPLY NOW


Or send details of you teams to debateatunical@unical.edu.ng; endee2011@gmail.com; zezebas@yahoo.com

University of Calabar Debaters to participate in the up-comming Inter-tertiary Institution Debate Competition at Obafemi Awolowo University in April

PAUDC 2011

From left to right: Dennis Okpong, Team leader Gweru Poly, Prof. Eze Bassey Eze (Director of CES Unical), Victoria Ene-Okon, Evaaere Tom, Franklin Ubi (Coach UCDC), Anita Silas, Ene Edem, Ejim Inung David

                The university of Calabar debate Club (UCDC) attended the 2011 Pan-African Universities Debating Championship at Falcons College Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and it’s teams and debaters posted a respectable performance despite the logistical challenges faced en-route the tourney. Here are a couple of pictures taken at the Championship.

waiting for the tabs

Team San Marino

Welcome to University of Calabar Debate and Public Speaking Club (UCDC)