Sixteen secondary schools from across Nigeria will compete in the Season 9 national finale of the I Beg to Differ Student Debate Tournament, with the winning school to receive ₦5 million.
The Tournament of Champions will bring together qualifiers from regional competitions in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
Each school will be represented by two debaters in the finale in Lagos from Monday, August 10 to September 3.
The competition will begin with a group stage, where the 16 schools will be divided into four groups of four.
The top two schools in each group will qualify automatically, while the best-performing third-place school will also advance.
The next round will feature 12 schools.
The winners of their debates will advance automatically, while judges will select two additional schools based on their overall performance to complete the quarterfinal lineup.
From the quarterfinals onward, the competition will be a straight knockout, meaning schools must win to remain in the tournament.
Nigeria Info, the organisers of the debate, has also unveiled an online voting platform for listeners and viewers.
This means that for the first time, the audience will also be able to vote for their favorite debating school after each match, allowing them to influence the eventual winners of each matchup and the competition at large.
“The Tournament of Champions” is designed to test the students’ ability to argue, think critically and discuss important national issues.
The competition has previously attracted hundreds of applications from students aged 13 to 17 and has focused on social, economic and political issues.
The champion will receive ₦5 million, the runner-up ₦2.5 million and the third-place school ₦1 million.
The tournament is powered by Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, with support from ObiWezy, Card Centre Nigeria Limited and Wakanow.
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