By: Sonaike Peter

Two 100-level students and residents of the Great Independence Hall, Demilade Giwa-Balogun and Israel Bolarinwa, on Tuesday, 9th July, 2024, emerged winner for spelling Bee Contest and first runner-up respectively at the UI’SU oratory inter-hall competition, held at NFLT, UI.

Speaking with IndyPress, the winner for Spelling Bee Contest, Demilade Giwa-Balogun said he was excited about the feat, while reflecting on failure in previous competition.

“I am so happy about this achievement. Actually this is not my first time participating in this kind of competition. I have participated in an inter-debate competition before,” Demilade said.

“I didn’t train and didn’t even make it to the top ten. I was so angry at myself but it paid off today,” he added.

Also, the first runner-up, Israel Bolarinwa expressed that being the first runner-up was contrary to his expectation, while crediting Independence Hall Literary and Debate for pushing him to perform at his best.

“I’m happy because I believe I gave it my best, and I’m certain today is a single letter in a whole book of legendary icons that the Indy Hall L&D, Indy hall and the school at large will make out of me and fellow katangites,” Israel said.

“Being the first runner up felt like it wasn’t enough but these people placed me right on top of the world.Sincerely, they are not just EXCOS, they are leaders,’’ Israel added.

The oratory contest, which featured participants from eight halls of residence was organised as part of the ongoing University of Ibadan Freshers’ Week.