Onakoya: From Lagos Ghetto to New York Times Square where he broke the Guinness World Record in Chess

 

Tunde Onakoya’s path to glory tells the story of resilience, passion, positivity and camaraderie. 

He grew up with no privilege. He was a lad in an Ikorodu slum community. 

Onakoya’s  poor background almost cost him the key to success, which is  education. But for the wisdom of his mother who exchanged work in a school for his school fees, he would have been like any other young man. 

For 58 hours, New York’s Time Square beamed with Nigerian dishes and drums as 29-year-old Tunde Onakoya made a bold statement with his 58-hour non-stop chess game to become a Guinness World Records title holder.

Onakoya, who grew up in a Lagos ghetto, achieved his goal very early on Saturday morning by breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon without losing to anyone. He, however, decided to push the duration to 60 hours. He started the game on Wednesday, April 17.

His philosophy, one “can do great things from a small place”, has been shared several times on social media.

Through Chess in Slums Africa, a non-profit dedicated to empowering disadvantaged children with chess literacy and supporting their education, Onakoya caters to the needs of young children across Africa.

Onakoya aspired to remain unbeaten by Shawn Martinez, also a chess master, and raise $1 million for charity purposes. As of press time, his supporters had donated over $54,000 to the cause.

“We’re on a mission to break the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon while raising $1 million for educational programmes in African slums,” Tunde had written ahead of the game.

“Your support means the world to us, so please come out, cheer us on, and consider donating to this incredible cause. Let’s make history together and empower underprivileged children through chess!”

Onakoya’s humble journey to becoming a world-renowned chess master started in Isale Odo in Ikorodu, Lagos State, where he acquired the skill as a boy. He would later hone his skills through his secondary school Chess Club and start winning trophies, he explained in an interview with Zikoko, a Nigerian lifestyle blog.

“During my teenage years, we lived in a slum community called Isale Odo in Ikorodu. It was in Ikorodu that things got really bad for my dad. He had a danfo which he used to lease out to drivers who would bring him an agreed amount. Sometimes, he would drive it himself. There were even days he’d be the conductor. Then his danfo ran into a series of problems and was no longer a source of income,” Tunde was quoted as saying.

“I couldn’t start secondary school because my parents were too poor to raise school fees — my brother was still in primary school and they couldn’t afford to pay for the both of us. They didn’t want me to go to a public school, as they were notorious for their poor standards and cultism. And so while my mates were in JSS 2, I was wasting at home. It was during this time that I found chess.”

Onakoya wants to change the story of Africa’s disadvantaged poor kids through his charity.