Now Reading: Tunde Onakoya’s 70-Hour Chess Marathon to Transform Slum Kids’ Lives
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Tunde Onakoya’s 70-Hour Chess Marathon to Transform Slum Kids’ Lives
Nigerian chess master Tunde Onakoya announced plans for a 70-hour chess marathon with children from Lagos’ Makoko and Oshodi slums, set for June 2025, to raise $1 million for his Chess in Slums Africa (CISA) initiative, per Pulse NG.
Onakoya, 29, who set a 60-hour Guinness World Record in New York’s Times Square in April 2024, revealed the goal during a Lagos press conference on April 16, 2025, attended by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, per Premium Times.
The marathon aims to fund education for 1,000 underprivileged kids, building on CISA’s success in teaching 2,000 children chess since 2018, with 50 securing scholarships, per CISA records. “Chess teaches strategy and hope,” Onakoya said, citing prodigy Ferdinand, a Makoko child with cerebral palsy now in secondary school.
The 2024 marathon raised $250,000, per The Guardian, and the 2025 event will stream globally, targeting 5 million viewers. Sanwo-Olu pledged ₦50 million in state support, noting Lagos’ 10 million youth population, per NBS. Onakoya’s work has reached 10 African countries, impacting 5,000 kids, per UNICEF data.
