We all have stories we love to tell, stories that we hold dear to our hearts.For us at Chess in Slums, Africa, one beautiful story we love to tell is that of Ferdinand.
In February 2021, we started our Makoko chess dream journey which included a two-week intensive chess training program for children without access to education in the community. We discovered a boy with Spastic cerebral palsy standing at the gate of the training center watching what was going on inside. He was mocked by his peers but he didn’t budge,they kept pushing him away but he kept coming back until he was noticed by one of our amazing chess educators. We brought him into our training center and introduced him to the game of Chess.
To our utmost surprise, a few minutes into learning board arrangement and pawn movements, he outperformed everyone in his class. We knew that he wielded so much potential that had to be harnessed.
Meet Maumo Ferdinand, a differently-abled child. He could not speak any English words neither could he speak Yòrùbá and had never been to school before, but he has shown a rare understanding of Chess through Pattern recognition.
At the end of the two intense weeks of chess lessons in the community, we held a tournament to test their understanding of the game and celebrate their excellence. The miracle child with Cerebral palsy, Ferdinand, won with a phenomenal performance for the junior category.
We saw the excitement on his mother’s face and for the very first time, she was so proud and grateful for all her prayers over her son were finally getting answered right before her eyes.
It didn’t take long to realize that Ferdinand is perhaps a savant after he accurately solved the complex knight move geometry we posed to him a few minutes after teaching him the basic movement of the Knight piece. This in itself is an extraordinary feat, even for a genius. We concluded that he was born to play chess.
The convener of the chess in slums initiative Tunde Onakoya visited the boy’s home and met with his family to tell them what a wonder their son was. Ferdinand’s father is a poor fisherman and his mother, a petty fishmonger. They barely make enough money to feed daily, hence the reason Ferdinand and his three siblings do not go to school. For a child with such an incredible gift, it broke our heart to learn that he and his siblings have never had any form of formal education, which made our convener put the family’s heartbreaking story online.
The world read and was enchanted by the story of the young Ferdinand , the massive engagement of the story led to an invitation to the Lagos state house for a chess match against the Governor, Mr. Babajide SanwoOlu. The game was a deeply strategic one that lasted for more than 30 minutes and later ended in a stalemate (Draw). It was a keenly contested duel and the governor was no pushover.
For a boy who only learned chess in all its complexities for just two weeks, his genius shined through the entire game and the governor was very impressed by his performance.
The governor gave him a million naira cash and enrolled him and all his siblings on a lifelong scholarship support up until their university education. The state government also promised to help relocate them from the slums of Makoko to a state-owned apartment in the city to begin a new life. For the little boy with dreamy eyes, this is just the beginning of his journey, and we are glad we got to be a part of his tale.
His gift of chess has made way for him and he got to stand before the governor and we rest assured that he’ll still stand before more kings. Without an iota of doubt, his life will never be the same again and we know that someday, in the nearest future, he’ll be in a position to pave a way for other children like him.
With tremendous burdens often come enormous gifts. Ferdinand has found his gift through chess and there’s no limit to what he can attain with this. The real superheroes are children like Ferdinand fighting big battles. Truly, his fight is different but he won’t have to fight it alone anymore.
In the words of Babatunde Onakoya, “Ferdinand’s story has sparked a lot of heartwarming reactions from around the world and it has inspired me to never let my limitations stop me from dreaming and aiming for the stars. He’s a special kid who has brought a lot of joy to our lives and I’ll keep his story somewhere in my heart to always remind myself of who I am and what I can become”.
Indeed, It is possible to do great things from a small place.
