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| Tanitoluwa Adewunmi |
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign
Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has described the success of
Tanitoluwa Adewunmi, an eight -year old Nigerian Chess champion in U. S. as a
pride to the nation.
Dabiri-Erewa said this in a statement by her Special
Assistant on Media Affairs, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, on Monday in Abuja.
The Presidential Aide said the feat performed by the young
Tanitoluwa in the Chess tournament was unparalleled and unique.
“The young Nigeria diasporan recently won the New York State
Chess championship for his age bracket.
“To this, former U.S President, Bill Clinton, has
congratulated the eight-year-old Nigerian chess champion, Tanitoluwa Adewunmi
and also invited him and his parents to his office for personal introduction,”
she said.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who expressed pleasure over the young
boy’s remarkable feat, said Tanitoluwa should be celebrated and encouraged to
serve as role model for his peers.
She said the outwitting of other children by Adewunmi in the
Chess tournament in U.S. showed that irrespective of age, determination and
focus would earn one the desired goal.
Dabiri-Erewa expressed determination to arrange a meeting
with Tanitoluwa and his parents to serve as an encouragement to other young
Nigerians, especially in the diaspora.
Adewunmi had won seven chess trophies including the state
tournament, where he outwitted other children.
The young chess champion’s family is taking asylum in a
homeless shelter in Manhattan after they fled the Boko Haram insurgency in
Nigeria since 2018.
He went undefeated at the state tournament, outwitting
children from elite private schools with private chess tutors.
Adewunmi’s rating is now 1587 and rising fast and he is
being compared with the world’s best player, Magnus Carlsen, who stands at
2845.
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He placed first in the New York State Scholastic
Championships tournament for kindergarten through third grade, a remarkable win
for anyone. Dailypost