Dada Olamide

Chess advocate. Founder @Sgy4womenDev maker of the Eco-chess set, a Nigerian hand-made chess set preserving the environment via plastic wastes removal.

[Dada Olamide @Philippi_ahead]

#Logic
#Strategy

[Dada Olamide @Philippi_ahead]

@DanielRegha @Windows Switch to Chromebook. You can do a lot with ones these days. The batteries are super reliable and updates won't break your back. Windows suck!

[Synergy For Women Development Initiative @sgy4Womendev]

No one who has truly discovered the incredible power of chess would want to keep it all to themselves, just like Thanos!

Chess has a unique way of transforming lives, building critical thinking skills, fostering meaningful connections, and bringing communities together. Once you experience its power, the natural response is to share it with others.

Today, we concluded the EcoChess Summer Holiday Training Programme with the students of De-Ohms Schools.

Over 150 students participated in the programme, which was implemented across three schools:
- De-Ohms Schools
- Abfield Montessori Schools
- Festard College, Igando

For many of the participants, this was their very first introduction to the beautiful game of chess. However, students from Abfield Montessori Schools are versatile, thanks to their active school chess programme.

Beyond learning how to play chess, participants were introduced to how they can handcraft functional chess sets from recycled pure water sachets!

Through EcoChess, we are using chess as a tool to promote education, creativity, environmental consciousness, and sustainability in Lagos, a fragile coastal city facing significant environmental challenges.

The journey doesn't end here. As the new academic session begins in a few weeks, we will be re-engaging the participating schools to consolidate the knowledge and skills acquired by the students.

A very special thank you to @TheGiftofChess for their exclusive support for this impactful project. Your support is helping us introduce more young people to the transformative power of chess while encouraging them to see waste as a resource for creativity and innovation.

We are really just getting started! Expect even more exciting things from the EcoChess movement!

[Synergy For Women Development Initiative @sgy4Womendev]

In May 2024, we launched our tournament-size EcoChess Set. The journey has not stopped since.
We have recently returned to the drawing board to improve on our initial design
The EcoChess set is an Nigerian-made answer to an age- old problem: the lack of critical thinking development among young people.
The improved redesign will be revealed in the coming days. Share if you believe in homegrown solutions.

[Synergy For Women Development Initiative @sgy4Womendev]

It takes a few seconds to gulp a sachet of pure water. It takes centuries for that sachet to disappear. Students from our community are collecting these discarded sachets and handcrafting them into functional chess sets.

The most durable solution to Lagos's plastic crisis is not a compactor or a landfill. It is a child who has learned with their own hands that waste has value.

Support for this training was provided by @thegiftofchess.

[Synergy For Women Development Initiative @sgy4Womendev]

Chess is a game of numbers.

The more pieces you capture, the closer you are to winning. Our handmade EcoChess set works the same way. Each handcrafted piece permanently removes 3½ pure water sachets from the streets of Lagos, ensuring that it never reaches a drain, a waterway, or ending up inside the lagoon.

We are training young people in our community to crunch these numbers, one chess piece at a time.

Let's keep checkmating environmental pollution.

Support for this project was provided by @thegiftofchess.

[Synergy For Women Development Initiative @sgy4Womendev]

Progress continues in our summer holiday of learning, creating & greening Lagos!
Students in our community are doing something remarkable: learning chess while handcrafting their own chess sets from recycled pure water sachets.
What could have ended up as environmental waste is now a tool for education.
That is the power of the EcoChess project: functional, handmade chess sets bringing sustainable value to resource-limited communities.
We are grateful to @TheGiftofChess for supporting this project!

[Synergy For Women Development Initiative @sgy4Womendev]

A summer holiday of learning, creating & greening Lagos!

All through the August holiday, students from Abfield Montessori Schools, De-Ohms Schools, and Festard College, Igando have been on an incredible learning streak.

For some, it was their very first encounter with the game of chess. For all, it is going to be a powerful experience of handcrafting The EcoChess Set, a functional chess set made entirely from recycled pure water sachets pulled off the streets of Lagos.

Every sachet collected is one less piece of plastic choking our drains and waterways. Every chess set produced is a tool for classroom learning, critical thinking, and environmental pride.

This is what it looks like when young people stop being spectators of the environmental crisis and start being the solution.
We are deeply grateful to @thegiftofchess for their generous support in making this programme possible.

[Synergy For Women Development Initiative @sgy4Womendev]

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL CHESS DAY!
At Synergy for Women Development Initiative (SWDI), we're marking this day not just by celebrating the game, but by reflecting on 4 years of using chess as a tool for real social impact, on the streets, in schools, and in our communities.
Here are some more recent updates from our desk:
1. The Ecochess: a handmade chess set which serves as an effective environmental action against plastic waste menance in our communities. We have equally introduced a training programme, teaching youths to handcraft these chess sets. Starting next week, our long-holiday EcoChess training programme will continue, now accomodating up to 500 children from our community.
2. The Gold & Silver encrusted Ecochess set: As a premium value-added extension of the programme, we've developed gold and silver encrusted EcoChess sets, as a premium value-added option that sparkles brilliantly.
3. The Medchess Initiative: Our MedChess Initiative, unbundled from one of the tracks of our ecochess training program, is using chess as a therapeutic tool within health institutions and as an intergenerational tool in communities. This initiative is currently undergoing institutional approval at The Lagos State College of Nursing and a private College of Nursing in Igando, Lagos. Soon, health students will be trained to bring chess into wards (as disease advocacy tools), community health outreaches, and elderly care, using the game as a bridge between clinical care and human connection.
4. The Chess for public good initiative: We are piloting Chess as a tool for sparking connections within residential estates. In partnership with @chessinpublic , we are exploring ways that estate dwellers can bond over the board, sparking valuable friendships between neighbours.
The bigger picture is that chess is bigger than a board game. It's a tool for wellness, positive social exchange and environmental awareness, among others. This International Chess Day, we celebrate everyone who believe in this vision alongside us!
Let the game continue!

[Dada Olamide @Philippi_ahead]

@henryoncode This is a fantastic idea. At @sgy4Womendev we make handmade chess sets locally. Perhaps we could look into areas to collaborate?

[Dada Olamide @Philippi_ahead]

@TrendingEx @PeterObi @sgy4Womendev Thank you all for your reaction, Obidients. Please how do I get the chess set across to Mr Peter Obi? I'm based in Lagos. Is there a go-to person that can help give him directly? Please do your thing!
#achesssetforPeterObi

[Dada Olamide @Philippi_ahead]

@TrendingEx Dear Mr @PeterObi, I'll like to present you with one of our handmade eco-chess set to promote chess education in the grassroots; made from recycled pure water sachet by @sgy4Womendev. It is at no cost sir!

[Dada Olamide @Philippi_ahead]

Dear #Obidients, I want to gift an Eco-chess set to His Excellency, @PeterObi. Our handmade chess are made from recycled materials like pure water sachets that pollute our environment and are cheap, to make chess very affordable for the masses.
@sgy4Womendev
Kindly retweet!

[Dada Olamide @Philippi_ahead]

@odogwu_ogidi https://t.co/TnqmiSK8fm

[Dada Olamide @Philippi_ahead]

@TrendingEx Dear Mr @PeterObi, I'll like to present you with one of our handmade eco-chess set to promote chess education in the grassroots; made from recycled pure water sachet by @sgy4Womendev. It is at no cost sir!

[Dada Olamide @Philippi_ahead]

@DanielRegha https://t.co/TnqmiSK8fm

[Dada Olamide @Philippi_ahead]

@TrendingEx Dear Mr @PeterObi, I'll like to present you with one of our handmade eco-chess set to promote chess education in the grassroots; made from recycled pure water sachet by @sgy4Womendev. It is at no cost sir!

[Dada Olamide @Philippi_ahead]

@PeterObi https://t.co/TnqmiSK8fm

[Dada Olamide @Philippi_ahead]

@TrendingEx Dear Mr @PeterObi, I'll like to present you with one of our handmade eco-chess set to promote chess education in the grassroots; made from recycled pure water sachet by @sgy4Womendev. It is at no cost sir!

[Synergy For Women Development Initiative @sgy4Womendev]

Our intergenerational chess journey continues to unfold beautifully across two pilot locations in Lagos.
At MASC Care Home, we train senior citizens & caregivers twice weekly — a calm, reflective space where chess becomes therapy, conversation, and connection.

[Synergy For Women Development Initiative @sgy4Womendev]

We have partnered with MASC Care Home, a senior citizens residential facility to champion the Chess for Connection Canada's intergenerational chess initiatives here in Nigeria.
This collaboration provides a space where seniors, caregivers, and young people connect through chess

[Synergy For Women Development Initiative @sgy4Womendev]

We’ve been refining Ogbonge chess sets with deliberate, user-focused improvements. Here’s what’s new:

1. Redesigned Knight – Now features a side-facing, more realistic horse form. This is our third iteration, and the most refined yet in terms of detail and character.

[Synergy For Women Development Initiative @sgy4Womendev]

The students of Indomitable Genius Academy are just 4 lessons away from mastering the chessboard!
With support from Lightning Square Chess USA, the International Chess Bootstrap Program is nearing completion — and the growth has been remarkable.
#ChessforAkure

[Synergy For Women Development Initiative @sgy4Womendev]

This week at the Akure Knight & Knot Boot Camp, students of Great Landmark College, Akure got a major boost — their eco-chess set project (made from recycled pure water sachets) is now among the Top 20 in a national STEM competition!
#STEMinNigeria #AkureKnightAndKnotBootcamp