Highly-respected chess coach and FIDE master, Kigigha Bomo has delivered an appeal on behalf of Bayelsa State’s teenage sensation, Goodness Ekunke, with a revelation that the youngster needs immense support to represent Nigeria next month at the World Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan.
Sports247 reports that Bomo spoke with a passionate plea for financial support from government, corporate bodies and individuals, to help the youngster in his quest for the Grandmaster title, following the 14-year-old lad’s triumph at the World Rapid Amateur Chess Championship in Abuja.
Ekunke is the first Nigerian to win the championship, which he achieved with a performance that Bomo described as a show of remarkable composure and tactical brilliance, boosted by support from the proprietress of Tete Models International School, Benita Timi.
Bomo, who has trained Ekunke for close to seven years since the youngster moved into his household in Yenagoa, thanked Timi for giving his ward a scholarship to cover his school fees at her institution, which the lad attends, thereby allowing him use other funds for his chess development.
While admitting that the scholarship has relieved him of a significant financial burden in raising Ekunke, Bomo added that the lad’s achievement in Abuja was the reward of years of sacrifices, but the youngster still has to compete at events like the World Juniors, World Cadets and African Championship.
The coach further pointed out that attending such competitions would help Ekunke accumulate more experience and exposure required for the Grandmaster title, an achievement that would make him enter global chess record books as the sixth sub-Saharan African to attain the honour.
Bomo expatiated, “His victory means a lot to me, because we’ve worked very, very hard to achieve this. There have been nights when we couldn’t sleep because we had to study. Our training sessions, we have to deprive ourselves of sleep because of school.
“The impact the school had on him cannot be overemphasised. These things are very, very expensive. It’s not something an individual like myself can afford. But, with government support, it’s very much achievable. We need that push for Bayelsa, to bring the name of our dear state into the global map.”
