The Faculty of the Social Sciences and the Lord Tedder Hall have emerged as the winners of the Faculty and Hall category, respectively, of Jaw War: Rise of Legends, at the finale held at the International Conference Center, University of Ibadan on Wednesday, 26th February, 2025.
The Faculty of the Social Sciences defeated their Law counterparts by 80.87 to 78.87 points while the Lord Tedder Hall defeated their Quuen Idia Hall counterparts by 81.06 to 79.5 points to wrap up this session’s Jaw War contest, with Akande Omobobola James emerging as the Best Speaker of the Night, ahead of Yahya Dorcas and Adebayo Abdulrahman.
The event began with the introduction of Judges; Jaw War legend Onele Peter Cole, Prince David Adeoye, and Dr Akin Tella. This was accompanied by the announcement of speakers and then the opening address by the President of the Literary and Debating Society (TLDS), UI, Ogonna Okere, who welcomed the audience and highlighted the importance of the competition. This was followed by an address by the University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Kayode Adebowale, who emphasised the value of the experience in shaping tomorrow’s leaders.
Afterwards, the Inter-Varsity Oratory competition ensued. Speakers from Lead City University (Akinleye Feranmi), Obafemi Awolowo University (Oluyemi Taiwo), Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (Adegoke Ayomide), University of Ilorin (Timothy Adeniran), and the University of Ibadan (Sakeenah Kareem), took to the stage to deliver oratory speeches on topic’s related to the competition’s theme, ‘Africa’s Travails and Triumphs; Moving Forward and Learning From The Past’.
Following a brief music and dance intermission by BIJAHs, the Faculty round commenced. Social Sciences’ (for) Adebayo Abdulrahman and Favour Ola-Stephen debated against Law’s (against) Chineke Ugochukwu and Akinlawon Goodluck, on the topic, “Should Africa invest in blockchain technology?”. The Hall round commenced soon after. Queen Idia Hall’s (for) Yahya Dorcas and Amoo Oluwabukunmi debated against Lord Tedder Hall’s (against) Akande Omobobola James and Oluwagunwa Michael on the topic, “Is Afrobeats a true representation of Africa’s culture?”.
The Rookie Oratory Contest featured speakers from three constituencies; the Faculty of Arts (Akintunde Naomi), Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall (Uwokhori Courage), and the Great Independence Hall (Bolarinwa Israel). All three delivered three-minute speeches centered around the theme for this year’s edition of Jaw War.
The Awards Ceremony took place afterwards, beginning with the presentation to the outgoing TLDS Executives.
Favour-Ola Stephen (Social Sciences/Idia) was awarded Overall Best Speaker. She also shared the Overall Best Speech award with Sakeenah Kareem (Arts). Yahya Dorcas (Social Sciences/Idia) was awarded Most Outstanding Speaker. Akande Omobobola James (Social Sciences/Tedder) was awarded Overall Best Male Speaker and Overall Best Finalist.
Uwokhori Faith won the Rookie Oratory Contest. In the Inter-Varsity Oratory Contest, UI came first, followed by LAUTECH and Lead City University, in second and third place, respectively.
With his double victory, Akande Omobobola James becomes the first double-constituency President to lead both constituencies to victory — the first ever for Social Sciences — and winning five personal awards along the way (two from the previous rounds). This also extends Lord Tedder Hall’s record as the Hall with the most wins in the competition’s history.
Afeezah Wojuade