President Bola Tinubu has celebrated 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.
Onakoya, the founder of Chess in Slums Africa, broke the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon on Saturday, after playing for over 58 hours and winning every match in tow.
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Celebrating the rare feat, the President, in a statement by Ajuri Ngelale, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, said he recognised the motive which compelled Onakoya to embark on the competition to raise funds for African children to learn and find opportunities through chess.
“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 President states Mr. Onakoya has shown a streak customary among Nigeria’s youth population, the audacity to make good change happen; to baffle impossibility, and propel innovations and solutions to the nation’s challenges, even from corners of disadvantage,” the statement said.
President Tinubu said Nigeria’s youths have demonstrated in all fields, including Afrobeats, Nollywood, the pulsating skit-making enterprise, education, science, and technology, that great exploits can truly come from small quarters.
He commended the inclination of Nigerians – across artificial partitions – for unity, once again exemplified through their undiluted support for this epoch-making endeavour.
The President assured all citizens that his administration remains strongly committed to creating and expanding opportunities for the youth to explore and exercise their abilities and become the symbols of greatness our nation represents in the future.