Lagos: Students from Lagos State’s six education districts on Friday began the quest for honours at the maiden Lagos Schools Debate Competition (LSDC), a three-day academic contest. Speaking, the Convener, Bukumi Babatunde, a lawyer, said the initiative, organised in collaboration with DebateChamps and Harvard Debate Council, U.S., aimed at expanding Nigerian students’ international debate exposure and participation.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the competition is holding at British International Junior School, Victoria Island, bringing together qualified schools drawn from all six education districts. Babatunde said that the LSDC was a platform designed to promote critical thinking, public speaking, and policy analysis skills, irrespective of students’ departments in school. She emphasized that this initiative marks only the beginning of a larger vision to develop globally competitive Nigerian students through consistent training, exposure, mentorship, and structured debate opportunities nationwide.
The convener highlighted the challenge of underrepresentation of Nigerian students in global debate circuits, despite their strong intellectual capacity and academic potential. She noted that many students rely heavily on memorised content, limiting their ability to respond critically and adapt during impromptu debate challenges. In her remarks, the Co-Convener, Dr Halima Usman, encouraged deeper student engagement beyond memorisation, promoting analytical reasoning and structured thinking.
Usman underscored the significance of the partnership with Harvard Debate Council, citing their experience in training national debate teams for international competitions. She stated that true debate excellence emerges when preparation meets pressure, requiring students to think critically and defend ideas beyond memorised content under real competition conditions.
Earlier, Mrs Funmilayo Babatunde, mother of the Convener, expressed her happiness and gratitude for the initiative, support received, and confidence in a suc
cessful programme outcome. She commended her daughter’s commitment and passion for bringing Nigerian children to the global level of such competitions.
The organisers called for stronger support from government, schools, parents, and private institutions to expand debate education access and enhance students’ intellectual development nationwide. They reaffirmed plans for national expansion, African competitions, recorded training sessions, and continuous mentorship programmes aimed at producing globally competitive student debaters.