Ahead of the PwCChess4Change Grand Slam slated for next month, the Commissioner for Education in Lagos State, Mrs Folashade Adefisayo has commended PricewaterhouseCoopers and MediaVision Limited for impacting positively on students in the state.
The Commissioner gave the commendations during the courtesy visit made by PricewaterhouseCoopers and MediaVision Limited on Friday, 23 April 2021.
According to her; “As an educator, I’m a great believer in chess and it’s fantastic that the competition provides the students with the opportunity to travel, to network and also to learn king among games. So, I’m excited about it.
“Chess teaches a lot. It teaches you about decision making. You can’t make a move without thinking of the impact on your opponent and what your opponent’s reaction would likely be. So, that means you really have to think deep. I believe in transporting skills and they can take that skill into thinking strategically and creatively.
“The game also teaches you that you will win some and also lose some.
“When you win. you should be gallant and gracious for winning and should be gracious in losing knowing that tomorrow is no other day. So, what you need to do is to go back and sharpen your skills and find out what you did wrong in order to get better.
“I love students to play it because I could see the impact on them. So, let me use this opportunity to thank the sponsors for impacting positively on our students.”
Speaking during the visit, PwC’s partner, Mr Pedro Omontuemhen said; “Education is an area we focus on at PwC. We continued to support education since the last administration and even the present administration by getting involved in so many ways.
“We paused the competition due to the pandemic but now that schools have resumed we are hoping to conclude the sixth edition we started in 2019 so that we can begin the seventh edition and we thank the Lagos State government for this opportunity.”
The PwCChess4Change initiative has produced Nigeria’s female number one chess player, Jessica Pelomoh.
She came in contact with the game for the first time in 2016 at the PwCChess4Change Grand Slam and went on to qualify to represent Nigeria at the African Youth Championships the same year just 4 months after her first game.
Fela is the Co-founder of MediaVision Limited .
