British Council offices in Nigeria were recently the talk of the town as they hosted auditions for reality TV series The Debaters as part of the quarterly WAPI (Words and Pictures) event.

The new buzz in Nigerian television, The Debaters is all about the art and skill of oratory. It’s about airing your views on topical issues while appreciating the logic of another person’s argument.

The reality TV series will run for 13 weeks, featuring weekly debates among 14 contestants on various social topics. Each week, a contestant will be eliminated. The last person standing will take away a cash prize of 3-million naira and a brand new Toyota Avanza.

The series is the result of collaboration between a number of partners; including Nigerian media company Inspire Africa and the British Council’s WAPI initiative.

WAPI offers a platform to young upcoming or underground artists to draw attention to social, political and economic issues of concern to them. It is open to 18- to 35-year-old visual and verbal artists, including writers, fashion designers, poets, rappers and hip-hop artists, musicians, filmmakers, graffiti artists, painters, illustrators, sculptors and photographers.

As a result of its collaboration with Inspire Africa, WAPI has now opened its doors to oratory, says the project co-ordinator, Connected Africa Arts’ Chinenye Bonny-Okoli.

‘Participants have been given the opportunity to proffer solutions to social, political or economic issues that their country faces through another form of art, which may not have been featured before at WAPI,’ says Bonny-Okoli.

Bonny-Okoli says WAPI events have been popular in Nigeria, attracting audiences of about 250.

‘Participants, particularly youths, have seen it [WAPI] as an opportunity to improve performances as well as network with peers in the same or different sectors, as well as [with] experts in their fields. Some of them have had the opportunity to be mentored,’ Bonny-Okoli says.  

According to the The Debaters website, the series will showcase the oratory talents and skills of participants, allowing them to ‘systematically debate issues and topics that affect us as a people, guided by well-defined rules of engagement, including the use of references, factual evidence and credible data – facts, figures, clarity, logic and conviction – to structure their points.’

Bonny-Okoli says the British Council hopes for more collaborations of this nature in future.

‘The partnership with Inspire Africa has opened more doors for collaboration. As an organisation with a strong brand in Nigeria and interested in youth engagement and development, the Council believes this partnership will last.’