The worthy rise of Nigeria’s Tunde Onakoya to international prominence, By Abraham Ameh

The humble beginning of Tunde and the game of chess started at Yintab Private Academy (YPA), when he was admitted into JSS 2 on 18th September, 2006. He subsequently joined the YPA Chess Club and was part of the Academy’s chess programme throughout his time there, from 2006 to 2011. He was under the guidance of the now late Mr Clement Okoro, a dedicated chess teacher and coach, whose passion for the game inspired the rise of many.

In the world of international sports and competition, few stories resonate as deeply as those of individuals rising from local playgrounds and small beginnings to the zenith of international recognition. This is exactly the story of the young Nigerian, Tunde Onakoya, whose journey to becoming a world-renowned chess champion, especially his recent feat of successfully setting a new Guinness World Record, has captured the attention and admiration of many around the world. It was not surprising that the internet became awash with his photos.

The humble beginning of Tunde and the game of chess started at Yintab Private Academy (YPA), when he was admitted into JSS 2 on 18^th September, 2006. He subsequently joined the YPA Chess Club and was part of the Academy’s chess programme throughout his time there, from 2006 to 2011. He was under the guidance of the now late Mr Clement Okoro, a dedicated chess teacher and coach, whose passion for the game inspired the rise of many. Though more fanciful to claim self-learning from observations at a barber’s shop, Mr Clement Okoro’s dedication to Tunde got his game to blossom over time. While Tunde may have seen a chess set at a barber’s shop, more so in a low-income community where the common games are the Yoruba ayo and draughts, which Americans call checkers. Yintab Private Academy and its owners provided Tunde the opportunity to compete with other children in other schools and gain confidence.

Growing up in the Isale Odo community in Ikorodu, like many kids from humble backgrounds, Tunde started life with deprivation. But fortune and providence came as his mum secured the job of a support staff at YPA, adjacent to TOS Benson Estate, at Oja Bus Stop, Ikorodu. According to the School’s Executive Director, Mrs Adejumoke Badejo, Tunde’s mother, Mrs Taiwo Onakoya as a support staff in the school, took advantage of half tuition fees for the staff’s children to send Tunde through secondary school. The school was very lenient and supported Tunde’s progress without being fussy over fees. Tunde, being a very diligent and promising student, was appointed head prefect (head boy) in his final year at Yintab Private Academy.

The game of chess is one that the management of Yintab Private Academy had planned as an important and strategic aid for critical thinking for students. The Chairman of Yintab Private Academy, Professor Babafemi A. Badejo recollects how his secondary school teacher and school father, Mr Anthony J. Finch had introduced him to the game of chess at Ijebu-Ode Grammar School, Ijebu-Ode. Little wonder he insisted that the game must be woven into the learning environment at the private school set up by his family. Furthermore, Professor Badejo founded the Femi Badejo Foundation, a private, non-profit organisation that promotes the knowledge of the game of chess. The Foundation considers chess as a tool for helping young people to cultivate skills in critical reasoning needed for both academic and social development. From 1999 to 2007, the Foundation, under the leadership of a former Judge of Ogun State, Justice Solomon Abidoye Olugbemi, sponsored a series of annual chess tournaments in the under 14 and under 10 categories, in conjunction with the Nigerian Chess Federation (NCF). Upon his appointment as a Judge of Ogun State, he handed over to the Director of Competitions at the Foundation, one Mr Johnson. Justice Solomon Abidoye Olugbemi, recounting some of his experiences while he led the Femi Badejo Foundation in an interview on April 24, 2024, said:

“I was involved in organising the chess tournaments for under 14 and 10 children at the time. I worked in conjunction with the Tournament Director, one Mr Johnson; I cannot remember his surname now. We held the tournaments at the National Stadium for seven years, and the eighth one at Yintab School, Ikorodu. Funding was done by then Dr Femi Badejo through his wife, while he was away at the UN as a multilateral diplomat. We did our best to get good participation, invited schools in Lagos State, Ogun State, Oyo State. Some came from as far as Port Harcourt to participate in the competition. The tournaments had a lot of impact on the children. A lot of students and schools participated. One school even tried to come very far from the East, but could not make it. The children were so happy. Apart from the chess, we also gave them lunch, then later snacks as a result of increasing costs.”

Beyond teaching children to play chess, Tunde Onakoya has inspired and empowered many children to become better versions of themselves. His efforts have also facilitated access to educational scholarships for children from poor backgrounds. Tunde also does advocacy and some public speaking on exploring creative methods in education, mental development and social projects.

Justice Olugbemi recalled how his departure to take up a higher career created a critical leadership vacuum in the Femi Badejo Foundation, that led the founder to voluntary withdraw funding, which was majorly responsible for the subsequent state of the Foundation. There were usually a number of financial demands from federal and state government officials in trying to organise the tournaments, which tended towards corruption. While he successfully talked officials out of breaking the law, his successors did not have the clout to do the same. Professor Badejo was not ready to bribe in order to do good, after paying for the use of rooms at the National Stadium, renting and fuelling a generator, etc., and still face demands from officials. However, it is important to note that the competitions provided the opportunity for Tunde Onakoya to have his first experience of traveling out of Ikorodu and competing with children from high-brow schools.

In a 2022 visit to Yintab Private Academy, his alma mater, in a moment of nostalgia and recollection of some of his fondest memories of the school and the chess programme there, to an audience of young school boys and girls seated in the same hall he sat a couple of years before, Tunde Onakoya jokingly gave his young audience a fine treat of laughter with his “rice and chicken secret confession.” As a young boy, he was personally attracted to the chess programme of the school and the annual Chess Tournament organised by the Femi Badejo Foundation, because of the rice and chicken served as lunch…but he eventually picked up interest in the chess game. Tunde essentially inspired the students to see that they can achieve anything, become whoever they want to be, just like him, irrespective of their backgrounds. He also spoke to the students on the need to understand the real meaning and use of education. Since his last courtesy visit to the School, Yintab Private Academy has rekindled its chess programme, with more students joining as the school also subscribed to the paid services of some of Mr Tunde Onakoya’s trained chess coaches.

The very appreciative mother of our international chess champion, Mrs Taiwo Onakoya (aka Iya Pupa), on a recent visit to the school, during which she also graciously paid off a reasonable portion of what she was owing Yintab Private Academy, said in Yoruba language to a former Head Mistress at the school, Ms. Olubunmilola Odesanya, “Ohun ti Tunde ko ni Yintab ni a fi n jeun loni” meaning, it was what Tunde learnt from Yintab that we are feeding on today.

The achievements of Tunde are very commendable. As Professor Badejo noted on his Facebook page, Tunde is a pride of Nigeria. How great it would have been if Mr Clement Okoro, who died at a very young age in 2013, were still alive today to see his contribution to the lives of many that Tunde is touching. His achievements are not just personal victories but are also testaments to the quality and impact of the foundational training he received at the Yintab Private Academy.

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Beyond teaching children to play chess, Tunde Onakoya has inspired and empowered many children to become better versions of themselves. His efforts have also facilitated access to educational scholarships for children from poor backgrounds. Tunde also does advocacy and some public speaking on exploring creative methods in education, mental development and social projects. From these, he has earned international recognition, global features, and mentions in international outlets, showing how his work continues to transform the lives of many children.

The story of the physically challenged Ferdinand from Makoko community, who rose to the limelight with his life-changing chess encounter with the governor of Lagos State, is one of the inspiring stories of children whose lives are being transformed by Tunde’s Chess In the Slums of Africa programme. A firm believer in the African philosophy of Ubuntu (being self through other, all for one, one for all), it is not surprising that Tunde is investing so much into empowering less privileged children, ensuring they are supported to lead successful and impactful lives.

Abraham Ameh is special adviser at Yintab Strategy Consults, Ikorodu, Lagos.