The father of Nigerian chess master Tunde Onakoya, Pa Onakoya, has disclosed that he wasn’t always in favor of his son’s chess playing.
He said that to get Tunde to concentrate on his studies as a child, he used to interfere with his chess games.
The delighted father revealed this in a brief interview with City Edge TV. On Wednesday, Tunde Onakoya’s father arrived at the Lagos airport with his wife and others to greet the Guinness World Record-breaker with heroism.
He said, “To me, Babatunde Onakoya is an angel because whatever he set his mind on you must succeed.
“As a small child, when Tunde was playing chess, I usually packed everything away from him because I wanted him to focus on school. I didn’t know that it was what would make him popular like this.
“My advice for parents is that they shouldn’t to discourage their children from their passions. I wanted Tunde to be a doctor but I didn’t know that chess would make him popular like this. I thank God.”
