UNICAL Team Wins World Best Oralist Competition

The University of Calabar(UNICAL) has won the World Best Oralist Competition held at the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) headquarters, Washington DC, United States of America.

The event, which was held recently in the US, was part of activities marking the 2019 International Astronautical Congress (IAC).

Commenting on the victory, Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Zana Akpagu, said that he was proud of the achievements and very positive about all the national and international accolades Unical has been receiving under his watch.

He said that he was not surprised as Unical had produced some of the best legal practitioners in Nigeria and the world at large.

He noted that the current President of the International Criminal Court, ICC, Justice Chile
Eboe-Osuji is a Unical law graduate. He said he would not rest on his oars to ensure the university takes its right place in the league of universities in the world.

At the semi-final rounds of the global contest, the UNICAL team triumphed over their challengers from North America represented by students of McGill University, Canada, to book a spot in the finals.

At the final stage, UNICAL competed against the winners of the European Regional Rounds from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

At the end of the Competition where UNICAL emerged as runners-up, Mr. Augustine Ushie, a member of the team emerged as the best Oralist of the entire Competition.

Members of the International Law Students Association (ILSA), Faculty of Law, Unical who represented Africa along with their coach, Ms Anne Uruegi Agi, were Nelly-Helen, Neji Ebruka, Augustine Eneji Ushie and John Chinomso Kaunda.

The teams argued a case concerning disputes arising from Military Uses of Space Resources by hypothetical States of Suniza vs Azazi.

Additional issues were presented regarding the use of abandoned Lunar facilities and liability for damages resulting from an explosion on the moon.

The trial was presided over by Justices of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the trio of Joan Donoghue, Peter Tomka and Kirill Gevorgian.