By Cyril Oleh
It has left no one in doubt that it aspires to be the Harvard of Nigeria. That confidence of success that often leads to success might have started manifesting. The Abuja based Veritas University is now lost in celebration of its victory in the just concluded All Nigerian Universities debate. The debate took place at the University of Uyo in Akwa Ibom State in Southsouth Nigeria where the university emerged the overall champion.
Students dispersing at the end of the signature weekly Community Mass
Over twenty two universities in Nigeria including the University of Lagos, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, the University of Calabar, the University of Ilorin, the University of Port Harcourt, Abia State University, among others, contested for the prize.
But it was Veritas University, Abuja’s All Female debating team that carted away the prize, provoking a campus wide celebratory mood led by no less the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Hyacinth Ichoku. Apart from personally announcing the victory, he made it a key issue in his weekly ‘State of the Campus’ address last Wednesday.
The elated Vice Chancellor thanked the champions for being good ambassadors of the university when the trophy was presented to the university community during its weekly Community Mass at the university Abuja Chaplaincy May 25th, 2022. Prof Ichoku also announced that the university would do everything possible to encourage the champions as well as their mentors, Edwin Ocheido and Mrs. Abiodun Ayeni who have coached the students in an initiative that started in the school in 2014 as Veritas University Debating Club. The VC also pledged to support any group that has good initiatives that will increase the visibility of Veritas University Abuja locally and internationally.
Faces of some recent high profile visitors to the campus!
The students involved are Prisca Chiamaka Iwendi and Divine Enekole Abah, both of the Department of Mass Communications; Emmanuella Brown of the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy and Grace Uguru of the Department of History and International Relations.
Having emerged winners, the Veritas University Abuja champions have qualified for subsequent rounds of the competition in Nairobi, Kenya and Madrid Spain, later in the year. According to the President of the Nigerian Debating Society, (NDS), Barrister Victor Chinyeaka, the NDS will fund the Nairobi and Spain tournaments on behalf of the Veritas University Abuja champions in appreciation of their excellent debating skills as well as the discipline they exhibited at the Uyo contest.
Dr. Cyril Oleh teaches in the Dept of Mass Communications at Veritas University, Abuja
