In Nigeria, the chessboard is competing with football as the most common sports item in major households.
It’s also true that Nigerian parents in recent times are encouraging their children to take part in chess as an extracurricular activity than any other sports.
Chess is the only sport in Nigeria that can be implemented as a stand-alone subject in schools because of its important role in helping students to be more effective in critical thinking and reasoning.
The sport has given Nigerian youth and future generations a role model in the person of 13- 13-year-old Deborah Quickpen, who is arguably the youngest example of a role model in Nigerian sports.
At the age of 6, Deborah became the youngest athlete to compete at the 18th National Sports in Abuja and she is presently the youngest National Chess Champion – in Chess, age is just a number.
Most Sports activities in Nigeria can be summarised between Winners, Losers and Prize Monies but Chess has given an example in Tunde Onakoya on how to use sports to alleviate poverty in our society and empower future generations.
For Adults, there is a role model in Tunde Onakoya, who uses Chess as a focal point to empower, uplift and educate one million children in slum communities through his Chess in Slums Africa initiative.
With half of the year gone, it suffices to say the most impactful sport in Nigeria for the year 2024 is Chess when Tunde Onakoya broke the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon winning in New York’s Times Square from Wednesday, April 17th, 2024, to Saturday, April 20th, 2024,
The World gave Nigeria her flower.
The incredible feat, which was a global phenomenon was a concerted effort to raise $1,000,000 for providing education to out-of-school children across Africa.
A few weeks after, the Sport witnessed a gathering of stakeholders in the game as Yemi Edun, the CEO of Daniel Ford Foundation in conjunction with the Nigeria Chess Federation brought Deborah Quickpen and Tunde Onakoya together to promote the game of chess and support Deborah’s onward journey to achieve greatness.
Last year, on the 17th of July, in a historic visit, the board of the Nigeria Chess Federation led by the President, DIG Sani Mohammed, rtd and Prince Adeyinka Adewole, the Vice President, led the FIDE’s Chess in Education Commission team to the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Education as well as the directors of various departments under the ministry to increase the awareness of chess amongst children in the state in a bid to build a greater future for them through the collaboration of Chess and Education.
The hallmark of chess as an impactful sport that sets it apart as a collaborative tool to foster intellectual and social development was witnessed at the 2023 Olojo Festival in Osun State where culture and chess meet at the same grandeur.
The event, which was organised by the Hon. Adebisi Awope, Vice Chairman, Osun State Chess Association and endorsed by the Nigeria Chess Federation was proof that chess can promote our culture and identity as a people.
As the world celebrates World Chess Day, we believe that our diversity can be united through Chess.
Read the full article here
