Dates: Tuesday 26th, Wednesday 27th and Thursday 28th March 2019
Venue: Molade Okoya – Thomas Indoor Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.
Time: 10:00am Daily
ATTENDANCE
In attendance, we had:
- Mrs. Esiri Agbeyi– Partner, Regulatory Services PwC
- Mr. Jide Adeola – Partner, PwC
- Mrs. Grace Ojone Etieno-Essienete – Clients & Market Development, PwC
- Dr. Kweku Adedayo Tandoh– Executive Chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC)
- Mr. Tokunbo Fagun– Chairman Lagos State Chess Association
- Barrister Margret Titilayo Solarin – TG/PS, Education District III
- Mrs. Babs Akinyeye– Director, Co-curricular activities, Lagos State Ministry of Education
- Alhaja Balogun – AssistantDirector, Lagos State Ministry of Education
- Ogbonna Obinna – Chief Arbiter, FIDE International Arbiter
- Jimmy Sogbesan- COO. MediaVision Limited
The PwC Chess4Change Grand Slam was a 3-day event which featured 22 secondary schools across 4 Education Districts in Lagos State.
Day 1 – Opening Ceremony:
The Grand Slam tournament kicked off on Tuesday, 26th March with an opening remark from the Chief Arbiter – Mr. Obinna Ogbonnaya. He welcomed everybody to the event and emphasized the benefits of chess using the story of Tanitoluwa Adewumi. He urged the students to remain focused and advised them to take advantage of the benefits of the Chess4Change initiative.
After the opening remarks, the students who represented Nigeria at the African Youth U-16 Chess Championship in Ghana were recognised and Nwaduito Bernadine from Eva Adelaja Girls Senior Secondary school shared their Chess Championship experience.
Moving further in the event, Mrs. Esiri Agbeyo, Mr Tokunbo Fagun and Barrister Titilayo Solorin also shared their remark.
“The PwC motto is “Adding Values, Changing Lives” and this is true because our major motive is to add value and change the lives of our future leaders. Chess is a strategic game for building the skills set for that type of position and we have seen that it has helped to build the participants leadership skills, their critical thinking skills, and their self-confidence.” – Mrs. Esiri Agbeyi
“With several tournaments like the PwC Chess4Change 2019 Grand Slam, it would not take long before Nigerians start ruling the world stage in the game of chess”. You really can’t quantify a tournament like this because it is very essential to the growth in the grassroots.” –Mr Tokunbo Fagun
“The PwC Chess4Change programme is a worthy initiative that has impacted the lives of the students positively in Lagos State public schools. Participants have to give their best at the tournament. For participating, all students are winners already” – Barrister Titilayo Solarin
After the remarks, the tournament commenced with the Team Event – Round 1, 2 & 3.
Day 2: Tournament continues:
The students, teachers and arbiters resumed at the indoor sports hall on Wednesday, 27th March for the continuation of the Grand Slam tournament. A brief recap of the first day was done and the chief arbiter commenced the 4th and 5th round of the team event. After a brief beak, they commenced the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Round of the individual event.
Day 3: Closing Ceremony
The 3rd day of the PwC Chess4Change Grand Slam kicked off on Thursday, 28th March with the final round of the team event. After the team event the participants moved into the 5th and 6th Round of the individual event. It was intensive as all participants were focused on acquiring the Grand prize for the individual Champion.
At the end of the tournament, the closing ceremony commenced with remarks from Mr. Jimmy Sogbesan – COO, MediaVision Limited; Mrs. Babs Akinyeye – Director, Co-curricular activities, Ministry of Education; Mr. Jide Adeola – Partner, PwC; Dr. Kweku Tandoh and Mr. Tokunbo Fagun.
Some of the highlights from the remarks:
“Game of chess isn’t made for playing sake, it is a game to sharpen your analytical skills and critical thinking of individuals”. – Mr. Jimmy Sogbesan
“I was so excited when I heard that PwC was sponsoring the students to the African Youth U-16 Chess Championship in Ghana. The students made us proud by going out there to represent our dear country and emerging as the 2nd Place Champion. Chess game is all about helping the critical thinking, analytical skills and academic performance of its students.” – Mrs. Babs Akinyeye
“Through the game of Chess, you can enhance your thinking and academic performance. All of these skills enhance your performance in academic endeavours. We want to improve the performance of the Girl-Child in sports. It is good to be a winner and it is important to appreciate you. Thank you for participating and congratulations in advance to the winners.” – Mr. Jide Adeola
I think it is most appropriate to thank PwC for this competition. It means that Chess4Change has come to stay. –
CHAMPIONS – SCHOOL
1ST PLACE – BIRREL AVENUE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, SABO
2ND PLACE – GOVERNMENT SNR COLLEGE ERIC MOORE
3RD PLACE – LAGOS CITY COLLEGE, YABA
CHAMPIONS – INDIVIDUAL
1ST PLACE – RAHMON IDOWU
2ND PLACE – MOYINOLUWA LAWAL
3RD PLACE – EGBE BENEDICT
4TH PLACE – AFOLABI EMMANUEL
5TH PLACE – OLAMIDE ADEDEJI
6TH PLACE – ADARAMAJA TEMITOPE
7TH PLACE – ALADI PRECIOUS
8TH PLACE – NDUBISI VICTOR
9TH PLACE – ABDULKAREEM FAWAZ
10TH PLACE – NNAJI CHIBUIKE
Fela is the Co-founder of MediaVision Limited .
