Mary Uke Ashia has emerged as the winner of the ‘I Beg to Differ Tournament of Champions.
The finals of Nigeria Info’s ‘I Beg To Differ’ tournament of champions saw 15-year-old Ashia and 15-year-old Oluwalade Demilade battle for the grand prize of N2 million.
Demilade, in support of the motion, ‘Should Developed Nations Increase Financial Aid to Developing Countries,’ noted that ‘financial aid improves the economy of the receiving nation as well as improves bilateral trade among nations.’
He added that foreign aid helps to boost food availability in the receiving nation.
Mary, on her part, asserted that ‘increase in foreign aid will be tantamount to the receiving nation selling off their birthright to a giving nation that always seeks something in return for aid.’
She argued that foreign aid almost always benefits corporate city institutions instead of local/rural institutions.
After the first sparring, the debaters proceeded to the topic: ‘Is Global Media Coverage of the Israel-Gaza Conflict Biased?’
At the end of the encounter, Mary emerged the winner with a score of 468 points while Demilade finished second with 439.5.
She went home with the grand prize of N2 million and other gifts while Demilade got N1 million and other gifts.
The third-place winner, Adio Afolarin, who defeated Minanengiyeofori David was presented with his prize money of N500,000 and other prizes.
The General Manager of Nigeria Info FM, Cool FM, Wazobia FM, Arewa FM and Kidz FM promised that the next edition of the successful national debate will be bigger than the just concluded one.
“We cannot go back. We owe it to Nigerians. We owe it to these kids to soldier on and make it bigger,” he said.
The I Beg to Differ Tournament of Champions is the first national debate organized by Nigeria FM, following the successes of its regional debates in Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Abuja.
The contestants included four semi-finalists of the sixth season of I Beg to Differ, Lagos; four semi-finalists of the seventh season; and four semi-finalists from each of the I Beg to Differ debates in Abuja and Port Harcourt; making them 16 in all.
The tournament, Nigeria Info’s flagship programme started in Lagos in November 2021.
Nigeria Info has three radio stations in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt. Its sister stations – Cool FM, Wazobia FM, Arewa FM, and Kids FM – are spread in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, and Onitsha.
