“Sustainable nutrition interventions create lasting impact when communities are equipped not only with knowledge and practical skills, but also with structures that encourage collaboration, shared growth, and long-term economic resilience.”
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
I noticed something about environment. When you are surrounded by broke people, it starts to feel like everyone is struggling, like the economy is collapsing and no one has money, and even if you do, you start thinking you might lose it. When you are around entrepreneurs and people who are building things, it feels like money and opportunities are everywhere, even when you personally have less. Your environment shapes what you believe is possible.
They really did a number on us in Nigeria . Where we have Nigerians who think their food is not healthy.
The average Nigerian will never believe eba and okro is healthy but they believe granola is healthy , they don’t believe shoko or ugu is healthy but they believe broccoli is healthy .
They don’t believe shawa or hake is healthy but they believe salmon is.
They don’t believe groundnut is healthy but they believe almond is healthy
We need to break from the chains of putting our own down !
Crazy how I could fall out with friends or lovers and they’ll still acknowledge and say things like “you’re a really warm person, you’re a good person…” Always.
Sometimes, friendships and relationships just end… not because one person is terrible but because it just had to. It’s okay to mutually end friendships and relationships without leaving it messy.
The hardest psychological pill you will ever have to swallow is realizing you are a victim of the "Mirror Fallacy."
You keep getting betrayed, used, and disappointed by people, and you sit around wondering why you have such bad luck. You don't have bad luck. You have a massive projection problem.
You keep looking at other people and expecting them to have your heart, your work ethic, and your sense of loyalty. You assume that because you would never lie to them, they would never lie to you. Because you would give them your last dollar, they would do the same.
People do not operate with your moral compass. Stop projecting your own character onto people who have repeatedly shown you they operate on pure survival and selfishness. You are breaking your own heart by expecting lions to eat grass just because you are a vegetarian.