NAN
Three universities emerged winners in the Maritime Blueprint Competition in which law students from six universities participated.
The universities are Bowen, University of Lagos and Ekiti State University.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the competition, held in Lagos on Monday, was sponsored by SIFAX Group as part of activities of the Taiwo Afolabi Annual Maritime Conference which entered its third edition.
SIFAX Group is one of the terminal operators in Lagos ports.
The competition was also held in partnership with the Maritime Forum of Faculty of Law, University of Lagos.
“At the end of the competition, which was a debate, Bowen University, Iwo, represented by Adekeye Olanrewaju and Dunmade Samuel, emerged the overall winner with 85 points.
“UNILAG, represented by Pius Bankong and Ipinnuoluwa Ade-Ademi, and EKSU, represented by Durola Ayobami Tosin and Oyewole Sunday, came second and third with 81 and 78 points, respectively.
” Other schools that participated were University of Benin, University of Ilorin and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
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“The first round of debate was on the merits and demerits of foreign direct investments in the maritime sector.
” The final round of the debate was on the topic; “Port Costs & Port Charges: A Recurring Decimal Under Port Reform Regime.”
“Mouth-watering prizes including laptops, smart phones and cash were given to the winners,” Dr Taiwo Afolabi, Group Executive Vice Chairman, SIFAX Group, said in a statement.
Afolabi said there was the need to deepen the knowledge base of law students and to stimulate their interest in the country’s maritime industry.
Afolabi said that the topics of the essay encouraged the company to sponsor the competition.
We don’t have enough maritime legal experts in the industry as I speak to you. Very few students also show interests in the legal aspect of the sector.
Afolabi said that having identified the few lawyers in the maritime sector, the company decided to take up the sponsorship of the competition.
“We believe that this gesture would go a long way in stimulating interest of students in maritime law.
“I am personally leading the mentorship charge because as a lawyer, I have experienced firsthand the many opportunities inherent in the application of law to the maritime sector.
“We are also doing this because at SIFAX Group, it’s part of our corporate philosophy to positively affect the society,” he said.