BTNG Drinks and Debate Night: Recap and Pictures
Expectations were high for the inaugural edition of BTNG Drinks and Debate Night.
Luckily, all signs were positive for a successful event– as we know Nigerians love and enjoy debating topics especially with regards to matters of the motherland. BTNG drinks (drinks and nibbles courtesy our reliable and generous hosts – Google Campus) and Debate Night was even more unique as it was predominantly tech topics focused, which would appeal to the diaspora Nigerians tech community here in the U.K. The event was also a celebration of Nigerian independence (yes we are 59!) and part of the black history month festivities.
No one was disappointed.
The evening kicked off with a quiz which was a mixture of tech and Nigerian general knowledge questions. Ope who’s a long time community member won the quiz (and gained extra points for his debate team).
We had four groups with a max of 15 people per group and some ‘secret sauce’ instructions on how to conduct themselves. The groups were now officially split into four teams (A, B, C, D) which meant two teams taking opposite sides on a topic.
There were two topics for the night:
- Nigeria will be overtaken by other technology-focused African countries in the next decade.
- 419 scammers should be retrained not incarcerated.
The four teams dispersed to huddle and prepare. This is where internally they got to decide speakers, gathered facts for presentation and tested their pitches.
And once the allotted prep time was up – it was the moment of truth – Debate time. First up were teams A & B who took opposite sides on the topic: Nigeria will be overtaken by other technology-focused African countries in the next decade.
Team A had the first go.
And then it was time for team B to argue convincingly about why Nigeria is still the place to be for startups, investors, and innovation in Africa.
It’s fair to say a lot of people enjoyed the viewpoints and stats delivered with convincing pitches from the speakers. The mood and vibe felt like a cross of a church/carnival/seminar.
Then we had a ten minutes break to let everyone grab refreshments (and catch their breath). And we resumed for the second half of the debate with teams C and D rearing to go.
Even at this early stage in the evening, it was already clear that our esteemed judges (who also happen to be core community members), Abiola, Anibe and Toyin were going to have tough decisions on their hands.
After the break, it was time for the next topic: 419 scammers should be retrained not incarcerated. This topic was debated by teams C and D. Team C went first to deliver their points on the harmful impact and need to adequately punish 419ers.
And then Team D had the stage and given the opportunity to present their case.
And then over to the judges to pronounce the winners. The Judges took time to speak about the judging criteria (factual accuracy, reasonableness, time keeping, etc) which guided their scoring system and ultimately, final decisions.
- Nigeria will be overtaken by other technology-focused African countries in the next decade. Won by Team B
- 419 scammers should be retrained not incarcerated. Won by Team D
But no love lost between the gallant and brave speakers who represented the four teams.
As customary in our events, there was opportunity for Lightning Talks where Ngozi, Kay, Valerri, Tobi, Tomide, Malobi and Nzube stepped forward.
Interestingly enough, majority of the lightning talks were from old timers community members giving updates or making requests for their new ventures (engineering opportunities, podcast, product improvements, access to capital, etc).
Thanks to everyone who made it down. And super thanks to Google Startups for all the support.
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