By Blessing Chinagorom
Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has hailed the Chess Champion and founder of Chess in Slums Africa, Tunde Onakoya for his rare feat, broken the record for the longest chess marathon after playing for an extraordinary 60 hours nonstop under the bright lights of New York City’s Times Square.
Tinubu, who on his social media platforms on Saturday congratulated the chess champ for sounding the gong of Nigeria’s resilience, self-belief, ingenuity at the square of global acclaim and for driving this compelling demonstration of character, which is raising funds for African children to learn and find opportunity through chess.
He said, “Tunde 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”.
Adding that, “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.
The President commended the inclination of Nigerians – across artificial partitions – for unity, once again exemplified through their undiluted support for this epoch-making endeavour.
Tunde Onakoya had aimed to play for 58 hours but continued until hitting the 60-hour mark in the early hours of Saturday morning, surpassing the previous record of 56 hours, 9 minutes and 37 seconds set in 2018 by Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad of Norway.
Though, the Guinness World Record organization has not yet confirmed Onakoya’s attempt, which can sometimes take weeks, but for many Nigerians, the 29-year-old is already considered something of a national hero.
Onakoya used this to raise $1 million for charity to support education for children across Africa, played against the Shawn Martinez, a US chess champion, through the Guinness World Record guidelines that any attempt to break the record must be made by two players who play continuously for the duration.
Onakoya founded Chess in Slums Africa in 2018, aims to help educate 1 million children in slum communities across the continent and also seeks to empower children in under -privileged communities by using chess to enhance critical thinking and problem- solving skills, in Lagos.