President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Nigerian chess player and coach, Mr. Tunde Onakoya on his feat as he set a new chess record at New York’s iconic Times Square yesterday.
The 29-year-old chess player hopes to raise $1m (£805,000) for charity to support chess education for millions of children while breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon yesterday after playing for over 58 hours and winning every match in tow.
In a statement, Tinubu hailed Onakoya’s compelling demonstration of character to raise funds for African children to learn through chess.
“President Tinubu congratulates Mr. Tunde Onakoya on setting a new world chess record and sounding the gong of Nigeria’s resilience, self-belief, and ingenuity at the square of global acclaim.
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“President Tinubu celebrates the Nigerian Chess Champion and founder of Chess in Slums Africa for the rare feat, but especially for the reason driving this compelling demonstration of character, which is raising funds for African children to learn and find opportunity through chess,” the statement said.
Onakoya credits chess with saving him from the overwhelming poverty he faced growing up in Lagos’s infamous floating slums.
His non-profit, Chess in Slums Africa, teaches the game to children from poor communities and helps them with their education.
Onakoya is also a board member of the US non-profit The Gift of Chess, which works to transform lives through chess and is targeting to distribute one million chess sets to underserved communities by 2030.
