The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has won this year’s edition of the Maritime Blueprint Competition organised as part of the Taiwo Afolabi Annual Maritime (TAAM) Conference last week.
At the competition held at the Faculty of Law, UNILAG, the duo of Oguntade Damilola and Greg Ikageri saw off stiff competition from teams from the University of Benin (UNIBEN), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), University of Ibadan (UI), Bowen University, Babcock University, and the Lagos State University (LASU).
The schools were paired in the first round and given seven minutes to debate various topics, including: “The Lithuanian Rules is more suitable for the carriage of goods by sea than the Hamburg Rules;” “The most effective means of settling maritime disputes is through arbitration;” “Reduction of Port charges is more favorable to Nigerian Maritime sector;” and “Insurance is the most effective means of settlement of maritime claims”.
In the second round, the finalists, UNILAG, UNN, OAU, and UNIBEN, debated the topic: Port reformation as a viable tool for the diversification of Nigeria’s economy.

The host university beat OAU’s team made up of Adebowale Faith and Ayoshola Oluwaseun to second place; while UNN’s Michelle Eigbobo and Kelechi Ogbu came third.
Top among the recommendations by the debaters were  that the reformation of ports will increase revenue for the country, and that the urgent need for diversification from oil to raise the country’s economy to global pedestal.
They also urged the government to pay more attention to industrialisation and more engagements especially in the agricultural sector. They suggested reforms in three areas: legal, operation, and institutional reforms.
The judges, Mr Aso Kalu, a lawyer in Corporate and Commercial Law, Taxation, Oil and Gas, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Entertainment Law, and Mr. Kelechukwu Okwujiakwo, a senior Counsel in the Shipping and Litigation Practice Group of the ACAS Law firm, praised the students for their performance.
“You guys did excellently well and I applaud your efforts ,” said Etea.
Okwujiakwo also told the students to display the spirit of sportsmanship and be graceful in defeat.

“This is not a competition, this is a friendly chat,” he said.

The students were encouraged to think about going into the Maritime sector.