JAW WAR 2023: THUS BEGINS THE FIRST SET OF ROUNDS, BUT NOT THE BEST SORT OF YEAR FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENCES L & D

 

By Oluwadarasimi Otunla

 

Loud chants fill the great NFLT as the supporters file in. The event set to begin at 4:00pm with its never-ending lateness, begins at 5:26.

The seats become filled in a matter of minutes as the wonderful students of the prestigious University, arrive with only one goal, and that is, to witness an intellectual filled debate and a successful win for their faculty.

The hosts get on to the stage, beautifully dressed in their formal attires and looking insanely gorgeous. They acknowledge the faculties present and after that, the national anthem, university anthem and jaw war anthem are taken. Jokingly, a price of 500k is promised to whoever knows  the Jaw war anthem, but no one knows it offhand.

Soon enough, the judges of the event are recognised. Other respectable people include; the UCJ fact checkers and live coverage reporters, the UCJ as a whole and presidents of the various faculties.

The main introduction of the event, finally occurs as the hosts call to the stage two speakers from each of the faculties. The resounding chants after introducing the faculties is really something to go down in the books.

The most memorable moments of the debate include:

The first round with the Faculty of Agriculture and the Faculty of Education going up against each other on the topic;  “Traditional marriage systems are not compatible with modern day society”. The first speaker from Agriculture, made a remarkable example about the contrast, using Tinubu and Obi’s supporters.

Her joke made the day as her points resounded in everyone’s ears once again. It was indeed an amazing opening of the floor by our first speaker of the event.

The next speaker, from the Faculty of Education, took to the stage as expectant ears listened for a counter to the motion. We were not disappointed as the last minute comment of the opponents not finding their way back to their faculty didn’t go unheard.

The second speaker from agriculture emerged with a wonderful story of Adisa and Alhaji and, omo, we no want another Adisa, ‘cause e be like say education should bring more points. To satisfy your curiosity, they most certainly did. The faculty of education’s second speaker started with “let me educate the farmers” and ended with their last comment “ The only thing that is incompatible, is our opponents argument.” The subtle jokes with the speakers strong voice really broke the grounds on this wonderful topic.

The second round which was by the faculty of technology and the faculty of Basic medical sciences on the topic “ University education should be free” was rather interesting. What stood out to me was the speaker from the faculty of technology’s comment “see you tommorrow” and honestly, it’s the confidence for me.

Another important mention, was the debate between the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Arts on the topic; "Is the 2022 CBN currency redesign justifiable?”.

The crowd was wowed by the ground opening speech from the Faculty of Science. Sadly, this didn’t last long as the speaker forgot his lines. The crowd tried by supporting him with cheers.

 Even I contributed by shouting, “You can do this!” Sadly, it wasn’t enough to help the speaker remember. The hosts went ahead to warn supporters to keep their voices down as they are distracting the speakers. Luckily, he was given another chance to speak.

The opponents from the Faculty of Arts were simply amazing, but the first speaker from the premier faculty’s repetition did not go unnoticed.

Last but not the least was that of the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Public health on the topic; "Should gender identity be determined at birth?”.

The Public Health’s speaker sure made Economics eat their words with the legendary statement, "Wallahi tallahi, na lie e dey lie!!!”

Although, we were there to witness the exchange of wits and bants, we were nevertheless enthralled by the heartfelt experiences.

Who would have thought that in such a intellectual event, someone would be willing to openly shoot their shot. The gentleman who gushed over the beauty of the female host on twitter, decided to take a bold step in finding true love. She didn’t give him a definite answer but we do wish him all the best.

Going ahead to interview some of the attendees of the event, a number of them stated that such an event brings about enmity amongst the faculties.

Some also did state that the debate was all shades of interesting and boring. I, for one, agree with this.

The event which commenced with high hopes of winning for all ended with crushed dreams for some and new beginnings for others.

According to the a eye-witness account (names withheld), it was not the most favourable time for the faculty of the social sciences, as they were edged out after the first rounds

We wait with bated breaths for the next few rounds, and for a better tune of efforts from the faculty.