Tunde Onakoya, the Nigerian chess master, has offered to sponsor the education of a girl in a viral video assisting her mother with a cleaning job in Lagos.
The gesture came after a video surfaced on social media showing the woman sweeping a street in Ikoyi with her 11-year-old daughter.
Human rights activist JustAdetoun had condemned the woman for involving her daughter in cleaning services, labeling it as “child labour”.
The activist also warned the woman that she risked losing her job if she continued the practice.
Lady c@lls out woman who carry her daughter along to go sweep people’s compound around 4 :30-5:00AM
pic.twitter.com/kjjRnHVDYs— Oyindamola
(@dammiedammie35) March 31, 2025
However, Onakoya, via an X post, expressed dismay over the public shaming of the mother in front of her child.
Reflecting on his own childhood struggles, the chess master recalled how his mother worked menial jobs, including sweeping houses and gutters, to make ends meet.
Onakoya, who is the founder of Chess-In-Slums, emphasised that the mother and daughter deserved compassion and support rather than condemnation.
The chess master also offered to sponsor the girl’s education up to university level.
“Extremely cruel to humiliate a mother in front of her daughter like this. Even worse that this was recorded and posted on social media,” he wrote.
“My mother used to sweep people’s houses and gutters in 2016. It hurt too much that I could do nothing financially to stop her. I often insisted on going with her, just to help fetch the water she needed so we could finish quicker and get back home before daylight. I didn’t want anyone to see us. The poverty that pushes one to hide their labour in the dark is a painful one.
“Yes, that child should not be working. But more than outrage, what she and her mother deserve is compassion. The only humane response is to help.
“If no one has done this already, I would like to take full responsibility for the girl’s education through university. I hope this eases their burden in some way. These are incredibly hard times.
“Our Privilege blinds us in ways we’ll never truly understand.”
Extremely cruel to humiliate a mother in front of her daughter like this. Even worse that this was recorded and posted on social media.
My mother used to sweep people’s houses and gutters in 2016. It hurt too much that I could do nothing financially to stop her. I often insisted… https://t.co/HoN6gIeIbl
— Tunde Onakoya (@Tunde_OD) April 1, 2025
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