Popular chess champion and founder of Chess in Slums Africa, Tunde Onakoya, has addressed the wave of criticism following his recent visit to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu.
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The 29-year-old recently made international headlines for breaking a Guinness World Record by playing chess non-stop for 64 hours in Times Square, New York. However, photos of his meeting with President Tinubu in Lagos sparked mixed reactions online.
Critics accused Onakoya of cozying up to a political leader despite his advocacy for vulnerable children living in harsh economic realities.
In a heartfelt post on his X (formerly Twitter) account, Onakoya insisted the visit was not political and shouldn’t be seen as an endorsement of Tinubu’s government.
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“To be honoured and received by the President and the highest office in my own country for this reason is not a crime,” he wrote. “It is not even a national honour, by the way.”
Onakoya emphasized that he remains apolitical and focused on his work. “I have no interest in partisan politics because of the sensitivity of the work that I do. If that ever changes, then I would resign my role as CEO of Chess in Slums Africa,” he declared.
While President Tinubu has hosted several political figures in recent weeks, including Ayo Fayose and Segun Sowunmi, Onakoya maintained that his visit had a different motive entirely.
“I will visit many more people and will continue to sell my chessboards,” he added, reiterating that the meeting was to share his vision for building the largest Chess/STEM institute in the world.
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Onakoya concluded by reaffirming that his mission is beyond charity—it’s about equipping children in underserved communities with critical thinking skills and access to education.
“We’re using chess as a tool to teach cognition,” he explained. “The real impact here is ensuring they have the capacity to think for themselves and pursue formal or vocational education.”
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