THE CHILDREN’S WORLDS OF PRESIDENT BUHARI & VICE PRESIDENT OSINBAJO
Cliché as it may sound, children hold the future of our nation and indeed the world. We must pay attention to developing their talents and capabilities .
Yesterday, I had the privilege of hosting the @chessinslums at the State House. Led by @tunde_onakoya, the founder and convener. Chess is considered a cerebral and complex game but this extraordinary group took chess training to the struggling neighborhoods training underprivileged children, some even under five years old to play chess.
In five years they have trained over 10,000 children and produced several national, and regional chess champions. Of the number, some are children with special needs, one of them, Ferdinand Maumo, a child with cerebral palsy but a chess genius! Several of the children now have scholarships to go to school, invitations to international competitions and as @tunde_onakoya said yesterday, they have even moved “from the struggling neighborhoods to Aso Rock Presidential Villa”.
A remarkable benefit of the chess training is the discovery that many have strong numeracy skills, and are particularly astute at code-writing and several other IT skills. The group has in collaboration with others focused on developing these special skills too.
So by the vision and compassion of one young man , turned into action, talented children are rising from poverty and physical challenges to confident, motivated children, winning local and international laurels.
@chessinslums have shown us what the efforts of a few can turn around the fortunes of thousands of children. What can you and I contribute to developing the talents of children especially those living in deprived conditions?
I wish every Nigerian child a very happy Children’s Day.
