Dolphin Senior High School in Lagos has emerged winners of Sahara Group’s #CleanLoveFeb Chess Competition which was organized as part of the energy conglomerate’s ongoing campaign against substance abuse, especially among young people.
The competition featured two players each from four government owned schools including Dolphin Senior High School, Boys’ Senior Academy, Girls’ Senior Academy and Ebute Elefun Senior High School, all located within Lagos Island.
The chess tourney, according to Bethel Obioma, Head, Corporate Communications, Sahara Group, was designed to serve as a platform to inspire young people to look to sports, books and educative web portals for recreation and academic excellence. “Chess is a game that stimulates mental alertness and critical thinking. We chose public secondary schools to encourage the students to aspire to challenging for laurels in a game that is considered elitist. The competition also served the purpose of creating awareness on the dangers of substance abuse and inspiring these young future leaders to channel their energies into activities that will help them realise their dreams,” he said.
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At the preliminary stage which held on Wednesday, February 19, 2020, the four schools competed intensely and played skillfully for over four hours before Dolphin Senior High School and Boys’ Senior Academy made it to the finals.
The finals featured four students from the two schools. Odusanya Isaac of Dolphin Senior High School competed against Olabode Quadri of Boys Senior Academy, while Lediju Abul-Lateef of Dolphin Senior High School played against Amoo Mubarak of Boys’ Senior Academy.
At the end of the competition, both contestants from Dolphin Senior High School outplayed their opponents to emerge as the overall winners of Sahara Group’s #CleanLoveFeb chess competition. Lejidu Abdul-Lateef went on to checkmate his way to claim the coveted Best Player of the Tournament Award.
The elated Abdul-Lateef said: “This is a very happy moment for me, and I am proud of what I have achieved. I also learned a lot from the session we had about substance abuse when Sahara Group brought a Psychiatrist, Dr. Tunde Fadipe to tell us more about saying no to substance abuse in any form. I hope to keep learning and playing the game and possibly end up as a grand master someday.”
All finalists were rewarded with prizes including books, Sahara corporate souvenirs and chess sets to the schools to encourage the cultivation of the chess-playing culture.
The competition which was implemented through Sahara’s Personal and Corporate Social Responsibility vehicle, Sahara Foundation, enlisted the support of the INVENT Programme, a mentoring platform for in- school youth.
The Sahara #CleanLoveCampaign which also includes other activities across the energy giant’s locations in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East continues for the rest of the month of February.
