Shell and other companies usually include a “technical presentation" as part of the interview process.
I had one the day before my Shell Recruitment Day.
Presented to a bunch of folks from the Technical Safety Engineering team.
One of the biggest scams in the corporate world is in that name – technical presentation – because I can assure you that the last thing they want is something technical.
I have seen so many smart candidates fall for this.
You think you impressed them.
But the next thing you get is a rejection email.
Because nobody is actually evaluating your technical skill.
They are looking for something else entirely.
(I wish they’d just be more honest about this.)🧵
Someone asked me why not my business?
Why didn’t I pitch my business?
I told them, if my mum’s business is successful! I am successful!
My mother has gone through a lot for I and my sister since the death of our father and all I want now is to see HER WINNNN!🥺
To help promote my book, “The Beginning of Everything Colourful,” Professor Wole Soyinka, in his home, posed for my photographer, Omoregie Osakpor. He doesn’t do this and doesn’t write blurbs for others, as well.
He found the writing lush and special.
This book is about Japan and it brought me closer to the Japanese embassy in Abuja.
It’s about Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko welcoming Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, who are visiting Japan as state guests. A conversation between a Japanese traveler and a Mexican traveller. This scenario continues to repeat itself in many of my books.
It was well received and I am glad to have it usher me fully into Japan. ❤️
#ThisWeekInUSNigeriaHistory in 2025, Nigerian chess master Tunde Onakoya made history by breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon alongside American chess master Shawn Martinez in Times Square, New York.
#DYK Tunde is a U.S. Government Exchange Program alumnus. He’s one of 14,000+ exchange alumni in Nigeria driving impact across U.S.–Nigeria life, culture, and collaboration.
#Freedom250
Photo credit: Chess in Slums Africa
He is 31 years old
At nine months old, a failed measles injection by a local nurse caused avascular necrosis, leading to lifelong hip pain and leg weakness until his hip replacement surgery
Four of his siblings died in childhood (likely related to sickle cell trait in the family), making his survival a "statistical miracle"
At age 10, he dropped out of school due to poverty but returned after his mother worked as a cleaner for six years to pay his fees
He learned chess as a kid at a local barber's shop in a Lagos slum while playing video games with friends
Barely spoke English when he started secondary school (mostly Yoruba at home) but quickly picked it up from classmates
His mother was a petty trader (thrift clothes seller), and his father sold spare parts. They met in a Lagos market
Chess helped him develop a strong photographic memory, which he used to cram for exams and survive without parental allowances
He became Nigeria's No 13 ranked chess player and earned the National Master title at age 20
He won gold medals representing Yaba College of Technology in the Nigeria Polytechnic Games and the RCCG Chess Championship
He also won the National Friends of Chess Tournament and the Chevron Chess Open
He got a diploma in computer science and used chess winnings to support himself through school
Founded Chess in Slums Africa in September 2018 as a volunteer-driven nonprofit after visiting slums like Majidun
The organization has reached thousands of underprivileged kids, including producing a 10-year-old champion with cerebral palsy
Tunde Onakoya broke the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon (over 60 hours) in Times Square, New York, in 2024
Featured in CNN African Voices for his work
Tunde has a younger brother (two years apart)
He credits chess with saving him from slum poverty and giving him an "intellectual identity"
He once simultaneously won 10 chess games at the DLD Conference in Germany
First African to win the Lideramos Youth Award for Social Impact in Spain.
Won the Corporate Chess Championship in Malawi with a perfect 7/7 score
Tunde dreams of building the world's biggest chess institute in Nigeria
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Tunde Onakoya has brought attention to Africa through Chess.
He started teaching chess at a younger age to children.
I'm talking of around 2013/2014 when he was meeting at parks around Lagos State, just to teach kids in the open (mostly after work hours)
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Today, I am more interested in telling you more about him, and how he has also risen from a place of deep poverty and struggles.
He has done soooo much for people and it's only expected that these past impacts would show on him as well
You might have your reservations about him, but you cannot downplay how he used the game of chess to bring great changes to children's lives.
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A lot of children now have access to education, purpose and meaning, thanks to Chess.
You are also part of his story. Tunde didn't do all these alone.
Your support, your accolades, your retweet, your reposts, everything
So look at the bigger picture.
Think of the kids whose lives have changed from taking alcohols and drugs on the streets of slums, to having regulated mental health and more purpose driven lives, due to Chess and the opportunity it brought.
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Tunde can't certainly please everyone, and yes, there might be actions that many people would attribute to him being human.
But if children would smile again, because he created an opportunity for them to have their smiles again.... Then it's one of the best legacies anyone can ever have.
And you also can create your own legacy to which nations would applaud, recognise and help preserve 🫂
The sky is big enough for you, I and Tunde to shine and shine bountifully well ❤️
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✍️ Vincent the Therapist
Tunde Onakoya makes history as first Nigerian to hold Helsinki Chess Club’s top international master to a draw
Nigerian chess champion, Tunde Onakoya, has achieved another historic milestone by becoming the first Nigerian to play against the prestigious Helsinki Chess Club.
Onakoya faced the club’s top titled International Master and held him to a remarkable draw in a highly competitive game.
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First Nigerian to hold a solo poetry exhibition and performance at The Great North Museum @GNM_Hancock in Newcastle and & Kirkleatham Museum in Redcar.
My series “Sonder with Sonde” was on the walls.
The first Nigerian man to lay down his life alongside the incredible @chessinslums team for 7 months to rescue children society had forgotten from oshodi underbridge , through chess.
Many of whom have gone on to be Unilag university students etc Giving TEDx talks, and in tech.
If an attention seeking racist man says a culture is retarded because one adorns his regal Agbádá outfit to a historic location to play chess,we must all stand firmly against it regardless of our biases
Quote this with a picture of you proudly repping your country and your tribe