Chess Champion Tunde Onakoya Fulfills Promise, Awards Full Scholarship to 11-Year-Old Girl in Viral Video

Chess champion and humanitarian Tunde Onakoya has kept his promise to support the education of an 11-year-old girl who recently went viral in a video showing her sweeping alongside her mother.

In an update shared on his X account, Onakoya posted a photo of the young girl and her parents, announcing that she has been awarded a full scholarship that will cover her education through to university.

The viral clip, which stirred public outrage, featured activist Adetoun confronting the girl’s mother over allegations of child labor. But Onakoya chose a path of compassion, inspired by his own past struggles with poverty.

Reflecting on his experience of sweeping houses and gutters with his mother in 2016, Onakoya highlighted the power of empathy over judgment.

“As promised,” he wrote,

“the young girl visited our Chess Innovation hub with her parents and has now been placed on a full ride educational scholarship till she’s done with university.”