University of Ilorin Debate Club Emerges Zonal Champion at Maiden AfCFTA Africa Youth Trade Challenge 2023

The University of Ilorin Debate Community has brought home another victory. The club participated in the inaugural Africa Youth Trade Debate Challenge (AYTDC), organized by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) secretariat in collaboration with Speech Forces. The AYTDC is a continental debate challenge aimed at engaging young people in Africa about the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and raising awareness of the role that African youth can play in achieving the goals of and fully benefiting from the AfCFTA.

The participating institutions across the continent were divided into two zones: English and French. Each zone has eight regions, each represented by the best university in that region. The University of Ilorin Debate Community (UILDC) was selected to represent Nigeria. The preliminary stages were held virtually. In the first knockout stage, UILDC faced the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) from Ghana on Saturday, June 10, 2023, and qualified for the zonal finals against Strathmore University from Kenya on Saturday, June 24. The University emerged victorious.

The University will be traveling on an all-expenses-paid trip by the AfCFTA secretariat to debate at the grand finals in Lusaka, Zambia from July 19-21, 2023, to determine the continental winners in both the English and French streams.

The team that represented the University is as follows:

Adebara Tobiloba, Faculty of Life Sciences

Ayodele Samuel, Faculty of Engineering and Technology

Olafisoye Tolulope, Faculty of Law

Owolabi Victor, Faculty of Education

John-Kalio Peace, Faculty of Law

Coach: Oloruntoyin Muhammad-Baqir, Faculty of Agriculture

Team Captain & Assistant Coach: Sodiq Farihan, Faculty of Engineering and Technology

#BetterByFar