It is often said that diamonds are sometimes found in the rough. When Tunde Onakoya’s Chess in Slums Africa stormed the slum of Makoka area in Lagos, little did they know that behind the shadows cast a rainbow of exceptional talent somewhere in a corner. For a boy who has little or no formal education – suffering from Spastic cerebral palsy, Ferdinand’s case proves in the affirmative that there is much ability in disabilities.

Ferdinand, just like every other child in the area had parents who could barely afford formal education. He is born of a lowly parentage with his father a poor fisherman and mother – a petty trader. He and his other three siblings had never had a feel of the four walls of a school. So, one wonders how this boy could have learned the mastery of a daunting game as Chess in minutes – exuding a rare display of the Chess’s pattern recognition. Indeed, there was no explanation other than to acknowledge that the genius in the child.

He outperformed expectations at the general Chess tournament in Makoko area organized by Chess in Slums Africa. What a wonder! He had eyes for the board – and made a swift movement that exceeds what his age detailed. He had only learned Chess in two weeks and turning out to be a champion at the snap of the fingers only shows that his cognitive prowess is way out of this world.

When invited by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to the State House for a game, Ferdinand proved his mettle by giving the Governor a run for his money. For close to 30 minutes, this Makoko-born genius held the first citizen of Lagos to a draw. The governor was highly impressed that he gave Ferdinand the sum of One Million Naira and a scholarship for him and his siblings up to university level with the promise that their family will be relocated to a plush apartment somewhere in the state.

It is true afterward that a man’s gift will make way for him.