“My father sold his taxi to send me through school”- Old tweet of chess master, Tunde Onakoya surfaces online

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

An old tweet describing how Pa Onakoya, the father of chess champion, Tunde Onakoya supporting the education of the Guinness World Record holder and his siblings has resurfaced on social media.

The tweet which resurfaced on the microblogging site, Twitter (otherwise known as X) on Friday, April 26 dated back to Father’s Day, June 19, 2022 following Pa Onakoya’s interview where he stated that he initially didn’t support his son, Tunde Onakoya’s fondness for the game of chess.

In the now infamous interview that has since gone viral on social media, Pa Onakoya’s confession has been met with mixed reactions from netizens, hence, a particular section of Tunde Onakoya’s staunch supporters rehashed the chess master’s old tweet applauding his father’s endeavours over the years.

• Tunde Onakoya, Nigerian chess master prepares to set Guinness World Records
• Guinness World Record: Against all odds, Tunde Onakoya continues pursuit of record-breaking chess quest
• “I used to stop my son from playing chess when he was a child”— Tunde Onakoya’s father
• Guinness World Record: 24 hours after, Tunde Onakoya remains unbeaten in chess marathon (PHOTOS)
• Amid coughing blood, Tunde Onakoya discloses how he won the Guinness World Record

“My Dad sold the car he used as a Taxi so I could pay my WAEC examination fee on deadline day,” the chess master wrote at the time.

He continued, “It was an incredibly painful sacrifice because this affected him to a point where he had to leave Lagos and go back to the village to work in a bakery.”

In the latter part of the thread, Tunde Onakoya explained that he felt immense pressure due to the sacrifices his father has made over the years.

He went further to write,

“He always told us he had no regrets because he wanted us to get the education he never had.
This low key put me under immense pressure as everyone had high hopes that Tunde was going to become a Medical doctor and save his family from poverty.”

In conclusion, he wrote,

“You can imagine how devastating it was for everyone when I didn’t gain admission to study medicine despite all the sacrifices my parents made. Everything spiralled from there but that’s a story for another day.”

You can imagine how devastating it was for everyone when I didn't gain admission to study medicine despite all the sacrifices my parents made.
Everything spiralled from there but that's a story for another day.

— Tunde Onakoya (@Tunde_OD) June 19, 2022

ALSO READ:

You need little wins, those small victories will make the difference in your lifetime