A 15-year-old student of Wellspring College, Ifeoluwa Olaiya, has won the eighth edition of Nigeria Info 99.3 Lagos FM’s I Beg to Differ student debate tournament. Olaiya secured the grand prize of ₦1 million on Thursday, 20 March, after debating against 15-year-old Hameed Olarenwaju in the final round and facing off against 16-year-old Esther Joseph on the motion, “President Bola Tinubu has demonstrated he is the right leader for Nigeria.”
Arguing against the motion, she contended that President Tinubu lacks legitimacy among many Nigerians, some of whom still view his election as flawed. She also criticized his leadership in ECOWAS, citing regional instability and the recent exits of three member states. Additionally, she argued that the administration’s anti-corruption efforts appear selective, focusing on opposition figures while overlooking allegations against key members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The three judges scored each finalist on three criteria: presentation, rebuttal, closing, and diction. Olaiya scored 126.5 points across all categories to defeat Joseph, who got 121.5 points.
The SSS 3 student said she did not expect to win even though she prepared adequately for the competition. “I learned my points and tried to present them to myself, in front of the mirror, and to other people to see my errors and how I can improve,” a happy Olaiya said after her victory. The first runner-up, Esther Joseph of Hisac Academy, Lagos, went home with ₦500,000 and other prizes, while the second runner-up, Chalokwu Naomi of United Senior High School won ₦250,000.
The Group General Manager of CoolWazobiaNigeriaInfoKidz FM, Femi Obong-Daniels, presented the cheques to the winner and the runners-up after the final debate. As a co-host of the debate, he was impressed with the quality of entries in the latest season of the highly acclaimed competition. “I Beg to Differ has been growing from strength to strength, and this particular one that just ended has been special,” he said.
“It’s special in terms of the quality of the students, right from the point where we had to select from all the entries to the point where we settled at 32. It was one of those debates where you felt early that the number of students who had the opportunity of winning it was pretty immense. And now, after the debate has come and gone, I just feel a sense of pride and a sense of hope that there is quality in this country and that our children, though young, are not ignorant or unaware. It’s also a lesson for the older ones to understand that the young ones are watching, and they’re coming, and they’re watching, and they have opinions. So, I’ve been really proud of the quality and the following,” Obong-Daniels added.
The top four contestants from the Lagos debate will join other regional finalists from Port Harcourt and Abuja for the National Tournament of Champions in August. The I Beg to Differ debate competition is organized by Nigeria’s premier talk radio station, Nigeria Info FM. Regional finals are held in three of Nigeria’s largest commercial cities, after which a national tournament takes place in Lagos.
