Ruth Okorocha, a fourteen-year-old student of King’s Way College, in Ojo, Lagos State has emerged winner of the second edition of Nigeria Info’s “I Beg to Differ” student debate competition for 2022.
Okorocha was declared the winner of the second edition of the competition after weeks of extensive debates on diverse socio-economic and political issues that pertain to the overall development of Nigeria.
The annual debate competition, which commenced on Friday, March 4, 2022, had hundreds of applications from secondary school students between the ages of thirteen to seventeen years.
The Nigeria Info’s debate competition came to be in a bid to create an educative platform that encourages Nigerian youths to hold intellectually-stimulating conversations that centre on the issues affecting the overall progress of the country.
According to the organisers, “This will invariably develop the intellectual capabilities of the teeming youthful population across Nigeria to critically assess complex socio-economic issues that address national growth and development.”
The final lap of the debate competition was aired live on Nigeria Info’s Hard Fact Show and had the fourteen-year-old Ruth conquering Debrah Pamzat, a fifteen-year-old student of Senior College, Kankon Badagry, after debating on a social-political topic centred around the need for people to be considered indigenes of their spouse’s state of origin.
Serge Noujaim, the Chief Executive Officer of Cool FM, Nigeria Info, and Wazobia FM, commenting on the success of the competition, congratulated the finalists for their resilience throughout the various stages of the competition.
“I sincerely want to use this medium to congratulate all the contestants who have participated at various levels in this competition.
“I understand that this debate tournament is a challenging one as everyone displayed brilliance throughout the diverse stages. I am, therefore, confident that everyone selected for this context is a winner.
“This is because providing a platform that grooms the confidence levels of teenagers, who are the future leaders, is definitely one of the profound ways of securing the future of our great country. As such, I am confident that all the contestants have garnered experiences that will shape their perspectives on socio-political issues going forward,” he said.
Okorocha expressed her deep appreciation to everyone who assisted her in achieving this success as she could not have done it alone while expressing her excitement after emerging as the winner of the 2022 edition of the competition.
“I am sincerely grateful to everyone who assisted me in one way or the other to be a part of this debate tournament. I am also grateful to Nigeria Info for giving me the opportunity to express my ideas on a few national issues. It afforded me the privilege to also learn from other debaters,” she said.
For emerging the overall champion, Okorocha was given a one-million-naira cash prize, a laptop, a Chromebook, a notebook, while Debrah Pamzat, the first runner-up, from Senior College in Badagry, received 500,000 naira, a Chromebook, an iPhone, and a tablet.
Olamilekan Ramadan, the second-runner up, from Federal Government College, Ijanikin, got 250,000 naira, a portable speaker, and a tablet.
The “I Beg to Differ” Student Debate Tournament is a novel imitative from Nigeria Info that strives to develop the intellectual ability of Nigerian youths on a national scale.
