Abridged report of the Navigator Communication Agency’s third general meeting

Between the hours of 10:30 am — 1:30 pm on the 20th day of October 2019, the premier communication agency — Navigator Communication Agency, OAU, held its third consecutive fortnight meeting at the topmost floor, Humanity Block 2. Settle in and grab a bottle of Coke -or whichever drink works for you- to comfortably digest the detailed account of the meeting, put together by Abd. Azeez Ibrahim of the Department of Public Administration.

‘What you don’t know, kills you slowly. Nothing’s truer than this apt statement. Personally, I know I have effective public communication challenges, but knowing where to start the journey to communication mastery, has always been the issue. So, you can imagine how boundless my joy was when I heard about the impressive Navigator Communication Agency which gets undergraduates like myself started, on the fulfilling journey to communication mastery. If you are still skeptical about whether this agency can make your journey to being an effective speaker or writer an easy one, you should go through this personal account to get a feel of what is done at the meeting. See you at the beginning of the other divide. Sorry, I meant the conclusion. LOL

Opening Prayer

Ctrl + O(pen)…

Sister Olaoje Farha from the Department of Linguistics helped officially put the wheels in motion by offering the opening prayer that sought to place the meeting in the hands of the Creator, beseeching His guidance, protection, and mercy towards the actualization of the gathering’s goal.

Dawah

The day’s scholar, Abdul Gafar Mazeedat of the Department of Sociology delivered a short piece on the importance of fearing Allah wheresoever we are. She made copious reference to recognized sources in the Islamic jurisprudence, including the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Sunnah. These mentions hinted at the clear-cut and manifest reality that Muslims must -as a matter of fundamental obligation- fear the lord of the Worlds, in all dealings, whether in religious or non-religious activities. Only then can they reap the fruits of their day and night sweats.

Ladies listening with rapt attention

Delineation of Roles

Here, the Co-Ordinator randomly picked participants to take up some roles, to facilitate a smooth meeting. The following members were delegated to function in the mentioned portfolios:

· Shittu Annat — Timer

· Adeleke Balkis — Filler-Counter: Responsible for noting the usage of filler words among members

· Rukayat Usman — Grammarian: Saddled with noting grammatical errors of speakers and the requisite corrections to them

· Balogun Azeezah — Memory-Maker: In charge of taking pictures of actions as they went down

· Abd. Azeez Ibrahim — Scribe: Chosen to note down happenings at the meeting

Okay, this is a new development, for I didn’t witness this at the last meeting I attended. But it’s amazing. At the very least, it helps facilitate all-inclusiveness, giving everyone a sense of belonging. Didn’t I tell you that NCA is liiiiit? Wait for more.

Xender

Yeah, you didn’t misread. You (We) got that right. Like the popular connectivity app, this agendum seeks to enhance the communication skills of participants, prompting them to share their personal experiences to the audience, with underlying lesson(s). Here are tidbits from some experiences shared by the participants:

Okanlawon Gafar of the Faculty of Law related his eye-opening experience at a seminar tagged ‘One Word, One Dollar’ where he was exposed to mouth-watering opportunities that are up for grab in the freelance writing space. For him, it’s of utmost importance to attend extra-curricular gatherings for one to be able to stay woke.

Lawal Faridah, a student of the English Department, underscored the importance of good company wherever one finds oneself. The first-timer established this by recounting how her relations with a few other devoted Muslim students, has prompted her to start threading the path of pristine Islam.

Lawal Faridah while sharing her experience

Lawal Abass of the Department of Chemistry underscored the importance of reaching out to predecessors who’ve passed through one’s current position, to gain clarity and easily surmount difficulties. He demonstrated this by telling the story of the difficulties he’s personally faced in a Maths course he offered, and how he was later able to overcome it.

Adeleke Fatimah shared her experience with an ailing, disgruntled roommate who was severally discontent. Although the former maintained composure in the face of such flagrant ungratefulness, the first-timer advised all to not be ingrates when little acts of kindness are extended to us.

Roheem Sodiq, a presidential aspirant of the Department of Religious Studies, demonstrated how he was adamant on correcting an ill expressed by a fellow student. He believed that as humans, it remained our primary duty to correct evil, whether or not doing that would hurt one’s short or long term goals. The truth might be bitter, but must be said.

About 20 more participants relayed their personal experiences to the audience, but the space constraint here wouldn’t allow me to feed them all back to you. I see the Timer winking at me from afar, to keep it abridged and keep the ball rolling to another agendum. LOL.

Intellectual Diet/Giveaway

As is customary with NCA, we were served with a sizzling, tasteful and cognitive diet in the form of expository questions on world news, national affairs, Islamic knowledge, OAU facts, NCA facts and so much more. Expectedly, the highest scorer was rewarded, alongside early birds. A general giveaway took place right after.

Gentlemen in their respective favorite listening formation

Discussion Session

The Editor-in-Chief of the agency, Okanlawon Gafar, facilitated a short training session on Speech Writing Techniques. He believed that excellent writers are not born, but a product of an arduous journey of self-development. The penultimate law student urged the gathering to set out to unravel the mysteries behind excellent writing, which has since become an essential skill in the 21st century.

Okanlawon Gafar during his session

Some of the tidbits that he posited would make a writer stand out from his peers, include:

· Knowing and understanding your targeted audience

· Gathering and digesting resources

· Developing amazing content that speaks to the targets

· Structuring the content perfectly

· Editing and proofreading

Okanlawon Gafar

By executing these actionable tips, he believed that a not-so-good writer could ascend astonishingly in no time, into a well-sought and excellent writer.

Toastmaster Corner

Do you even know who toastmasters are? Well, they are those efficient public communicators that are the toast of all. To build the relevant skills of outspokenness, confidence, flexibility, intuitive thinking and other relevant skills that make toastmasters what they are, participants were engaged in the British Parliamentary-modelled debate and Public Speaking exercises.

·BP Debate

The following motions were deliberated upon by members:

Motion A — This House would ban godfatherism in politics

Motion B — This House believes that BBNaija is a perfect representation of Nigeria’s moral rot.

BP Debaters during prep time

Varying arguments that were pretty thoughtful, deep, and commendable, were tendered by the participants on the two divides of the motion i.e. government and opposition. Criticisms were taken, and recommendations were made, all in a bid to make the exercise as engaging and interactive as it could be.

·Public Speaking Round

Here, random (and perhaps, fortunate members) were -through a little game- picked to speak on varying topics, with a participant drawn from each gender divide. Below were the participants:

Adeniji Dawoud — Spoke about the foremost place he’d like to visit (Lagos) and the reason behind the choice. For him, his choice was predicated on the hyped bustle of the metropolitan city and the varying Accounting opportunities up for grabs there.

Alaka Zainab

A.O.B.

Here, the Co-ordinator advised participants to further work on prompt attendance and devotion to assigned tasks, to further the goals and objectives of the agency.

Adjournment/Closing Prayer

The meeting was adjourned to the 3rd day of November, 2019, on the strength of a motion raised by Roheem Sodeeq and ably seconded by Akanmu Fathiu Olayemi. The closing prayer was offered by Oladipo Latifat

My Take

Here’s a piece of advice you didn’t pay for. If you’ve got communication issues -both oral or written- like myself, now’s the time to take action. If you are still sceptical about whether NCA is the place to be, ensure to come experience the next meeting of the agency scheduled for the 10th of November, 2019 (the earlier mentioned date to which the next meeting was adjourned to, had -at the time of this report- been shifted forward to the new date due to some circumstances).

Don’t sleep on it, ladies and gentlemen! Communicate with Difference! Stay Woke!

Navigator Communication Agency

Written by

NCA is a groundbreaking campus agency that specialises in the training of undergrads in effective writing and public speaking.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade