By Gbenga Akingbule
Founder and convener of Chess in Slums Africa, Tunde Onakoya, at the weekend, pledged to donate 20000 Chess Boards to further encourage the playing of chess games in the Northern states of Nigeria.
Gatekeepers News reports that Onakoya, hosted by the Nigerian Airforce Officers Mess ( NAFOM) Chess Club, Maiduguri said the donation will provide more opportunities to play chess and boost education in the region.
Onakoya disclosed this in Maiduguri shortly after playing a chess game with 8 players simultaneously including the Commander of Nigeria Airforce 105 Composite Group, Air Commodore Caleb Olayera.
The Lagos-born chess Player who is the Guinness World Record holder of the longest marathon chess game said the cheers boards will be coming from The Gift of Chess – a New York-based organisation
“We will send at least 20000 chess boards to the North, a lot of the chess boards we gave out today are from Gift For Chess of which I’m a co-founder.
“We will be strategic about the distribution of the chess boards and engage people who have the mind of service to carry out the distribution, ” Onakoya said.
He added that deliberate attention will be given to ensuring that children, including those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and those in the Internal Displaced Persons ( IDPs) camps, are given the opportunity to play chess game
Onakoya revealed that chess games can be used as a tool for self development and language to connect to other people and also “as a way to help the children find their place in the world again .”
” I have dedicated the last six years of my life to teaching children and it has brought me more success than any personal achievement.
” We want to bring a new kind of attention to children in the North, not that which demeans them but that which dignifies them.
” We will set up a regular training session, we will start with the Internal Displaced Persons (IDP) camps that we already have. We will train them on a weekly basis and there would be remuneration for the volunteer instructors . We must sustain training for the children.” Onakoya said
