The National Debate Training Program (NDTP), undertaken as a Community Development Service (CDS) project by NYSC Corps Member Ms. Janefrancis Ijeoma Abuta, has officially entered its training phase in collaboration with the National Universities Commission (NUC), marking a nationwide rollout that will culminate in a ₦500,000 championship prize for the winning institution.
The programme follows a registration exercise that closed on 17 April 2026, attracting participation from 73 universities across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. A total of 109 debate teams and 218 student debaters were enrolled, reflecting a wide institutional spread that includes the University of Jos, University of Port Harcourt, PAMO University of Medical Sciences, and the Nigeria Police Academy. The organisers described the turnout as a “strong indication of institutional readiness to adopt structured debate as a tool for academic and professional development.”
Each participating university is supported by a network of institutional representatives, including Directors of Academic Planning (DAPs), Deans, Student Affairs officials, and Debate Society Presidents, alongside designated Contact Persons coordinating engagement with the programme secretariat. In total, 146 institutional representatives are actively involved in facilitating participation and ensuring programme alignment within their respective institutions.
Training commenced on 20 April 2026 and is being delivered entirely via Zoom, allowing simultaneous participation across the country. Sessions run daily from Monday to Friday between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., with organisers confirming that multiple sessions have already been successfully conducted. According to the coordination team, “the virtual format ensures inclusivity and real-time engagement regardless of location, while maintaining consistency in delivery.”
The training is facilitated by Royal Rhetorics, a debate coaching organisation with a track record of competitive and adjudication excellence at continental and global levels. Facilitators include Eze Nwakuba, Ayodele Samuel, and Velina Andonova, each bringing international debating credentials spanning the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC), World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC), and European debating circuits. Additional trainers are expected to join as the curriculum progresses.
Programme content is structured around argument development, critical reasoning, persuasive delivery, and motion analysis, aligning with competencies increasingly demanded in both public and private sector employment. Organisers noted that “debate training is being positioned not just as an academic exercise, but as a practical framework for building employability skills among Nigerian graduates.”
The training phase is scheduled to conclude on 1 May 2026, after which the NUC Debating Championship 2026 will commence on 4 May. Preliminary rounds will run from 4 to 8 May, followed by elimination rounds from 11 to 14 May, with the grand finale slated for 15 May 2026. All registered teams will compete at the preliminary stage before progressing through successive rounds.
Royal Rhetorics will sponsor the championship, with a prize pool of ₦500,000 awarded to the winning institution. The organisers stated that the competition is designed to “institutionalise debate excellence across Nigerian universities while rewarding performance and consistency at a national level.”
The NDTP Coordination Team acknowledged the role of the NUC in facilitating nationwide institutional engagement, noting that its support was critical to the programme’s execution. “The collaboration with the Commission ensured seamless communication with universities and significantly contributed to the successful rollout of the initiative,” the team said.
What do you think about this?
Drop your opinion in the comment section.
FOLLOW US & Share this with someone who needs to see this.
