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Funny thing is despite all the internet chaos, no Nigerian has actually come forward with a picture of them playing chess at the louvre.
It was a cheeky caption same as this one I posted 4 years ago.
So much ado about nothing.
Tunde Onakoya@Tunde_OD
First person in history to play chess under third mainland bridge 😎
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Bayo humiliate a waiter at a lounge in Lekki and felt my childhood curdle in my chest.
The waiter, a young man with tired eyes and a name tag that read Samson, had brought the wrong drink. A simple mistake. Bayo sent it back with a wave of his hand like shooing a fly. Then he said it. This is why you people should know your place. Illiterate.
I set my glass down. Rotimi, sitting beside me, stopped mid-laugh. Kemi looked at the table.
Bayo grew up in Bariga. I know because I grew up there with him. We shared a room with 4 other boys. We ate garri with cold water and called it dinner. His mother sold pure water at Oshodi and died owing her cooperative. Bayo cried at her burial, his agbada borrowed, his shoes 2 sizes too big.
Now he owns a fintech startup. Drives a Mercedes GLE. Wears Italian loafers and speaks with an accent he acquired in 18 months at a London business school. The waiter walked away, his shoulders curled inward like a beaten dog.
I said, Bayo, your mother sold pure water.
The table went silent. Rotimi's eyes widened. Kemi touched my arm under the table.
Bayo stared at me. His jaw tightened. Then he laughed. A short, ugly sound. That was different. She worked. She had dignity. These ones just want handouts.
She sold water at Oshodi for ₦10 per sachet, I said. That waiter earns ₦40,000 a month. Tell me the difference.
He did not answer. He called for the bill, paid it without looking at the total, and left. Rotimi followed him. Kemi stayed.
She said, He wasn't always like this.
I said, He was never like this. That is the problem. Some people escape poverty and spend the rest of their lives punishing everyone who reminds them of where they started.
I left a tip for Samson. Not because I am noble. Because I remember Bariga. And I remember that the only difference between Bayo and that waiter is a few turns of luck and a friend who should have spoken sooner.
Pharaoh👳🏾♂️👑@MrMekzy_
People who usually display the most classism are former poor people. You’ll think that they’ll be kind to poor people because they’ve experienced poverty and they know how it feels to be poor.
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If this pops on your Timeline, read and share.
May Allah reward you.
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Bandits attack on Ibadan-Ijebu road and all of you are silent because you don't want to betray your tribe person. Me I will talk ooooooooo because we don't have shishi in my family
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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@Tunde_OD
First Nigerian to play chess at the Louvre 🇫🇷-The world’s most prestigious museum.
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I want to be rich. But not Lamborghini
or Rolex rich, I want to be rich enough to go to the gym at 3pm and nobody can tell me no. To tap the family in front of me at the supermarket and say, "It's on me," Rich enough that my future wife never has to worry about getting a job. Rich enough to show my children the world, not pictures of it. Rich enough to take my friends to dinner and say, "| got this", Rich enough that God uses me to help the people who are in need. That's my version of rich.
quote@itsmubashi
Daily reminder :
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When E money got rich, he started supporting his older brother KCEE to ensure he makes it in music.
He didn’t even reflect that he’s younger.. it takes one person to change the poor status of a family and if you happen to be the one, don’t neglect your family members.
❤️💡
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