Maiden edition of the Enugu state youths debate tournament has commenced with Twenty six groups participating and winning team to go home with Fifteen million niara .
The tournament, which is an initiative of the Enugu state Government,aimed at helping youths develop their speech and thinking skills, commenced on Tuesday,August 6 and will end on October 23,2024.
Speaking on the importance of the debate, the Senior Special Assistant to Enugu state Governor on Social Culture and Self Development, Dera Okenwa said the event was important because it will help young people to learn how to speak, how to put themselves together and arrive at certain opinions . It will also help the youths to form opinions and when they formed opinions, they will develop ideologies that will help them build the social culture ,because they are the leaders of tomorrow.
“This is important because what we are really doing was helping young people to learn how to speak, how to put themselves together, how to arrive at certain opinions and how they feel. That’s the major thing that we ware doing here ,so that young people do not always go towards group thinking,, towards shared opinions where they will be able to have opinions for themselves . That’s what this is all about,” she said.
.According to the Governor’s aide, the program was to sensitise the youths on social- cultural issues.
“They are going to end up talking about these things, so that, when they hear this concept elsewhere , they will be able to engage more.as opposed to where they will just hear it and dismiss it.
“This is really going to increase their interest levels and get them more engaged in well informed society, on the , the social-cultural and the mindsets that inform society. This will make them more engaged with that”, she said .
Okenwa added that the program will run for ten weeks, two days a week (every Tuesdays and Wednesdays), debating social issues.
On the prizes to be won, she said the wining team is going home with N15million, the runner – up, N5million and the third team is going home with N2 million, “courtesy of the Enugu state Government and the private sector.
She disclosed that Sixty team submitted their videos online and they went through the videos, twenty six team which met certain criteria ,qualified
The debate holding every Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from 10am to 2 pm at the post Primary School Management Board( PPSMB) Enugu, will end on 23 October.
Author- Maureen Ikpeama