Mass Communication Students take lead at The Podium

By Ukey Elizabeth and Doherty Eniola

*Mass Comm Speakers, Makinde Emmanuel and Waliyat Sulaimon*

The executives of the Social Science Students Association (SOSSA), on Wednesday the 24th of April 2024, successfully held the maiden edition of their inter-departmental debating competition tagged; The Podium. This event brought together the 7 departments under the Faculty of Social Sciences to compete for the best position and the grand prize of #100,000.

Sponsored by The MagicLab Academy, the competition began promptly by 2pm and was held at the FSS lecture theater. Supporters and students thronged it to cheer on their participants to victory and uphold their department’s reputation, as such, the venue was packed within minutes. The event started with an address from the chairman of the organizing committee, Mr Agbolade Isaac and a brief introduction to the sponsors, after which the debate began in earnest.

Four topics were assigned and each department sent out their best (literal) warriors; a chief speaker and a deputy speaker to oppose or support the motion. They were given an allotted time of 10 minutes in total and an extra 1 minute and 30 seconds for rebuttals, which the accurate time-keeper Mr Aliu fairly enforced.

The department of Sociology with their chief speaker; Soyemi Obed and his deputy; Ologidi Sophia, opened the floor, speaking in support of their topic: “Legal abortion and parental consent is a balancing act in Nigeria.” Their opponents were the 400 and 300 level students of Economics; Oladunjoye Tofunmi and Oluwapelumi Yinka-Gregg, respectively. Both sides spoke extensively to buttress their points and dig at the opponent’s claim.

Taking off from the high-note the other team had set, the Political science speakers were up next speaking on the topic: “Technology exacerbates the knowledge gap”. The chief speaker, a 300 level student, though small in stature, spoke confidently and handled the stage like a seasoned speaker. On the other hand however, the fresher and deputy speaker, Bakare Blessing started off a bit shaky but was able to wrap up her predecessor’s points beautifully. There was a slight issue when the judges contested the usage of aiding materials, but it was waived off to the relief of the speakers and crowd alike.

There was a brief intermission after the Pol Science team, in which 3 lucky students were awarded by the sponsors and 1 other by the SOSSA executives. The students were asked to entertain the crowd by singing along to their favorite musicians, and in the second set, to mention the names of the participants of the competition. The audience were also treated to a thrilling spoken words rendition by Moyosoreoluwa, of Psychology department.

The chief speaker, a penultimate student of the Mass Communication department; Waliyat Sulaimon, climbed the podium next, to massive cheers and applause from her fellow MCSAites in the crowd. With a clear voice that rang through the now-quiet hall, she strongly argued her case in support of the motion: “The use of Artificial Intelligence in decision making processes poses a threat to Human autonomy and privacy”, citing statistics and references to aid her points.

*L-R-Gen Sec MCSA, President MCSA, MCSA speakers and Vice president MCSA*

Makinde Emmanuel, the second speaker and sophomore student, received the same roaring reception as he took the stage for the second round. His arguments stemmed from real life scenarios and he spared no bodies as he further pleaded his case. Spicing his spiel with one-liners and witty statements, he ended with a fiery slogan that roused the audience to cheer and scream in support.

The opposing team, Psychology department, refused to step down without a fight as final year student, Abayomi Khadijat, immediately began to diffuse and dissect the opponent’s arguments as soon as she got her turn. Digging at the team, she attributed their vast knowledge of statistical facts to the use of AI and begged the question “…without AI, will we all be here?”, to which the audience exclaimed in shock and support.

The deputy speaker from the same level, Muhammed Ali-Kangiwa, though inaudible for the most part, took the same route, digging at the opposing team and arguing against the motion. He wasn’t able to conclude as strongly as the other speaker however, as his allotted time was exhausted.

The fourth and final team with the topic “The growing influence of Artificial Intelligence, if not regulated, poses a threat to human employment”, had the department of Geography in support and the Social Works department as the opposition. Speaking calmly and without theatrics as opposed to the other teams, Lamina Ayomide, the main speaker of the supporting team, began with this quote by unknown, “our intelligence is what makes us human”. He gave ample illustrations to buttress his point and appeal to the audience and judges’ emotions. Akomolafe Emmanuel, speaking in the second round, lost a bit of the momentum as he spoke rather timidly, appealing that “…a society that prioritizes machine efficiency over human potentials would soon decline”. The opposing speaker, smartly dressed in a yellow blazer and heels, Adjei Elohor Joy-a final year student- started off by emphasizing that AI poses no real threat to employment. Giving an instance of ChatGPT and the impossibility of overtaking a lecturer’s job, there became an apparent shift in the audience’s support. To seal their argument, penultimate student; Titilope Odulaja acknowledged the ever-present fear of change and revolutions.

After all the teams had competed, the judges, Mr Oluwale Oludasa and Dr. Ebony Oketunbi, collated and announced the result with Mass Communication department garnering the highest points with 81.5% and Political science department unfortunately having the lowest points with a 64.5% average. The scores of the other departments are as follows:Social Works; 77.5%, Psychology; 75.5%, Economics; 74%, Sociology; 70.7% and Geography; 69.3%. The top 4 highest scorers; Mass com, Social works, Psychology and Economics will compete in the finals for the grand prize. The specifics of the Finale are yet to be announced, but it is known that the 2nd and 3rd place winners would be awarded with #70,000 and #50,000 respectively.