Adedayo Adeyokunnu @dayor_

This is why I fear fame. Not because I fear being known, but because I fear being owned. Fame flattens you. It takes your complexities and refines them into soundbites, headlines, avatars for someone else’s argument. Suddenly, everyone has an opinion on how you should live, who you should meet, what causes you should align with. They want you to be their representative, until you’re not. And then they want your head. Take Tunde, for example. A man who, at his core, strikes me as someone who just wants to play chess, teach kids, and make the world a bit more decent than he met it. That’s all. No throne to climb, no vast lands to conquer, no people to subjugate. Just a clean, honest mission: use a board game to sharpen the minds and expand the futures of children who were never given a fair starting point. But when you do something so beautiful, so rare, the world notices. And when the world notices, it demands. Now, Tunde isn’t just Tunde anymore. He’s become the face of chess. The symbol of uplift. A banner for hope in a place that has almost forgotten how to hope. And as it always does, success gathers many family members, some who love you, others who want to own you, and many who simply want to be seen standing next to you. Now, as we can glean from this image, Tunde had an audience with Tinubu. And the backlash, judging from the comments, has been swift. People are angry. And not without reason. Tinubu is not a president many Nigerians feel proud of. He has not given us the kind of nation Tunde is building in miniature through his chessboards and classrooms. Tunde empowers children. Tinubu, many (myself included) feel, has disempowered the people. But you can’t blame the president either. Of course he wants a photo op with Tunde. A man like Tinubu—deeply disliked and fully aware of his non-existent moral capital—knows the value of proximity. Tunde is clean. Tunde is inspiring. Tunde is hope in human form. If a picture can paint a thousand words, then one with Tunde can rewrite an entire narrative. A good leader should always cast himself in the best light. A badly performing one needs to. Still, you also can’t fault those calling Tunde out. Just weeks ago, he publicly distanced himself from tribal propaganda, writing a deeply felt disclaimer that clarified his mission was not for “Yoruba kids” alone but for all children—irrespective of tribe, ethnicity, or origin. He warned us about those who “stir the ants in the jar”—those who pit us against each other so we forget the hands stealing from the jar in the first place. And whether or not he named names, everyone with a pulse—everyone who’s followed Nigerian politics for even a minute—knows Tinubu is one of those hands. Not because he’s some cartoon villain. Not because he’s a fire-breathing bigot. No. He’s far too polished for that. Too debonair. Too suave. He’s a City Boy, remember? When you’re that wealthy, you don’t need to shout about tribalism, you just let it simmer. It’s divide and rule. He doesn’t do it because he believes in division. He does it because he needs it. Every politician wants to win. Tinubu is no different. Unity is dangerous to the powerful. A people focused on justice might suddenly demand it. So he keeps us distracted—some would even say entertained—with the bigotry Olympics while the country slowly melts beneath his feet. And now there’s Tunde, caught right in the middle. He’s probably seen the tweets. The callouts. The think-pieces. He might even be wondering if it was all worth it, if maybe he should’ve just stayed that guy who taught chess in peace. Because now, both sides are clawing at him. One side calls him a patriot. The other, a sellout. He’s no longer allowed to be a person. He must now be a position. But the tragedy here isn’t that Tunde is being criticized. It’s that he’s being claimed. Everyone wants to hold him up as proof of their beliefs….

Tunde Onakoya @Tunde_OD

a year ago

Honored to have been graciously received by His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, @officialABAT. We had the privilege of presenting a Gold plated Adire Chess board and the world record certificate. Grateful for the time, listening ear and kind

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The reason why someone cannot understand your point of view is because their reality of the same is really limited to what they know and their mind cannot open wide enough to comprehend that there are other realities. This is one of the reasons people argue here. Endlessly.

If you still love hymns just retweet.

I went through one of the worst experiences of my life between August 2022 and January 2023... After moving into a new space in February 2022, spending millions to renovate and set up the space. The Landlord issued a quit notice exactly 6 months after...

LP winning Lagos is for our brothers and sisters that were killed at the Lekki toll gate. We won’t forget.

@SamuelOtigba @BeziBuild

Thanks Nathaniel Bassey for spending 2,280 minutes with me in 2022. I couldn’t stop listening to Emmanuel. #SpotifyWrapped open.spotify.com/artist/1ukmGET…

1. Trying to get back into reading fiction. This was my first #theseimpossiblethings I loved these book so much

@Toinlicious 😂😂😂

We are #hiring for a Front Desk Officer for an insurance company. Location: Lekki Phase 1 The successful candidate should have at least one year of experience as a Front Desk officer and must have worked in the insurance sector. Please send CV to [email protected]

We appreciate all our facilitators for their outstanding contribution to the KEC Career Workshop 4.0 Many of the attendees were able to gain practical knowledge and skills that will help them explore opportunities in remote work Thank you for your immense support.

@kecnigeria Thank you for having me

@Jollz Must be him 🤣🤣🤣

@Praiz8 @Sisi_Yemmie He is always good and kind to me

@diaryofa9jagirl 4. tied to deliverables. Location is Lagos, Nigeria. If this looks like you, please send me a message. Thanks #jobopenings

@diaryofa9jagirl 3. skills and must be driven by excellence and be able to work independently. I don't have a specific no of years but the candidate should be able to demonstrate evidence of the requirements above. Compensation is decent but includes both fixed and variable element,