The Three Winning Entries for the Fisayo Soyombo Inter-Varsity Essay Competition 2019

On Saturday, January 18, 2020, the winners of the 4th Fisayo Soyombo Essay Competition organized by the 2018/2019 leadership of the Union of Campus Journalists, University of Ibadan, Ibadan were unveiled. There were first thirteen finalists shortlisted for the three top spots and they were drawn from different higher instiututions such as the University of...

The Beautiful Effects of TEDxUI’s The Butterfly Effect

TEDxUI organized her annual TEDx event in the University of Ibadan on Saturday, November 23, 2019. The event, which held at the Linux Professional Institute (LPI) Hub, was themed, 'The Butterfly Effect.' The program was a day-long one featuring speeches from invited speakers, dancing, poetry recitation, an a capella rendition, music from a saxophonist, a...

The Thing About Being Disappointed

Hi there! Good day! Thank you for being kind to come here. May this new week be far better than the past week for you. This Sunday, I want us to talk about something I've been thinking about for a while. One thing I am now so grateful to God for learning (by my experience)...

Alagba Barny this Sunday: Is there such a thing as Karma?

Hi! Happy Sunday to you! Recently, my attention has been drawn to the subject of Karma and to the question of its realness. Is there really such a thing as Karma? Generally, like Merriam Webster's Dictionary provides, Karma is the force created by a person's actions that some people believe causes good or bad things...

Speakers to Look Forward to in Jaw War 2019

Hi! It's the second-to-the-last month of the year! I specially want to salute students of Nigeria's premier university, the University of Ibadan, who are preparing for one of Africa's biggest student public speaking competitions, popularly known as Jaw War, organized by The Literary and Debating Society, University of Ibadan. Since its reintroduction in 2014, Jaw...

My Entry For The 2019 International Essay Contest For Young People

I entered for the 2019 International Essay Contest For Young People organized by the Goi Peace Initiative. I did not win but I thought it would make a great read. The theme was Creating A Society Full of Kindness. Here it is: Conversations I saw a YouTube video of Yale College's 2019 Class Day in...

The Fourth Basic Need of Man That We Were Not Taught

I was taught in primary school that man has three basic needs. I'm sure you know them too. They are food, clothing and shelter. These items are basic because man cannot really say he is living if he does not have them, and even if he can breathe and live without these things, he cannot...

Honest Talk, One Procrastinator To Another

Last night, I was discussing with a group of friends about some of their strengths. These guys could start researching for and finish an entry for an essay contest in less than two hours to the deadline of the contest. According to them, those moments of pressure were exactly when brilliant ideas competed for space...

My Identity… Parts of Which I’m Working On

In the last 2 meetings of my fellowship, I had a swell time in God's presence learning about the subject of the Believer's Identity. I'm grateful for the meetings because God used them to correct and order some things in my life.One thing I began to meditate on was how important knowing one's identity is....

Coming Out

Papa did not name my sister and I Deborah and Elijah because he loved English names. Those two names are, in fact, the only non-Igbo names we bear. Papa knew what he was doing. Deborah and Elijah in the Bible were people who did great exploits for the Lord and his people during their days....

Alagba Barny this Sunday: The Peak That Is In You; What Is It?

Hello there, dear! Happy Sunday! How did the first week in September go? You sure must have heard that, when the purpose of a thing is unknown, abuse is inevitable. You must have also heard that, until you lose certain things, you will never fully appreciate their values. The more important you know and believe...

Alagba Barny this Sunday: Care.

Hello there, dear! Happy Sunday! Happy new month to you! I was on the road in front of Tafawa Balewa Hall, UI, trekking my way to the Faculty of The Social Sciences where I was going to do TDB that night. In case you don't know what TDB is, TDB, in student parlance, means Till...

Alagba Barny this Sunday: Compassion

Hello there, dear! Happy Sunday to you! In one of my school lectures over the past week, we talked about the concept of double jeopardy. Double jeopardy comes into play where a person, who has previously been charged of an offence and has either been acquitted or convicted, is brought again before the court for...

Alagba Barny this Sunday: A Frown At Simi’s Smile For Me?

Hello there, dear! Happy Sunday! Yesterday, your darling Alagba was somewhere when he heard popular Nigerian music artiste Simi's song, Smile For Me. Now, let's talk about Smile For Me. Specifically, let's talk about its lyrics. Here's verse one. Smile for me even if you sad oo Be good to me even if you bad...

Interview with #ThatFantasticStar, Anthony Dimwaka

Anthony Dimwaka is an on-air personality with 32FM 94.9, one of the biggest radio stations in the brown-roof city of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is a media strategist, a singer and instrumentalist, a voice coach, a pro voice-over actor (with the appellation De_voyce), and a master MC. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English...

Alagba Barny this Sunday: About Fighting

Hello there, dear! Happy Sunday! How did the past week go? Well, I presume. In church today, something interesting happened. You remember when you were younger and you fought with some people verbally or physically? You remember how those episodes never ended until your teacher or some older mediator told you to shake hands with...

Alagba Barny this Sunday: Why Should Bad Things Happen To You?

Hello there! Happy Sunday! Happy new month to you! May the coming of this new month of August augur all things new and beautiful for us! This first Sunday, as a happy-new-month present, there is a song that I want you to listen to. I have no doubt it will enrich and empower you. Wait...

Alagba Barny this Sunday: I Agree With Toke Makinwa

I subscribed to Toke Makinwa's YouTube channel a long time ago. This was because I looked to her as a mentor, as someone who has become what I want to become. Toke Makinwa is basically a media icon. She's an on-air personality. She anchors big events. She is a social media influencer. She has business...

Alagba Barny this Sunday: The Boy Next Door

Hello there, dear! Happy Sunday! How did the past week go? This Sunday, I'll be sharing a piece that will provoke you into a fairly long period of thinking. It's titled, The Boy Next Door. The Boy Next Door A boy moves into the room next to ours in our university's staff quarters. 'Hi, my...

Alagba Barny this Sunday: Growth

Hello there, dear! Happy Sunday! One of the things that fascinate me the most about life is growth. The movement of a phenomenon from one state to another. The transition from one stage of life to another. The maturing of a being from very little to very huge. The journey from obscurity to limelight. It...