On the 27th of September, 2025, the 6th Edition of the Christopher Osunbote Games concluded after a tense contest spanning across the 26th and 27th. The competition, held at the ABH Quadrangle and Cafeteria, featured chess, scrabble, table tennis and creative writing contests, held amongst students of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, and was organised by Steller Games Agency, with Mr Emeka Madueke and Mr Paul Michael of the 600L MB;BS class at the forefront. The event was the latest installation in a string of competitions sponsored by Dr Christopher Osunbote, a COMUI Medicine and Surgery Graduate, formerly of the Department of Psychiatry, University College Hospital, Ibadan.
Featuring 62 participants in total, the competition saw students vie for up to N500,000 in prizes over the course of two days. Male table tennis saw Oluwatoberu Osokole claim gold in a keenly contested final against Victor Udochukwu in the absence of last year’s gold medalist, Olaoluwa Olabisi, while Semiu Akinde Sulaimon finished in third place. Featuring only two contestants, the lowest across the competition, female table tennis would see Shola Balogun of the 2k25 class get the better of Raheem Rashidat of the department of Physiotherapy. Female scrabble, however, would prove a more keenly contested affair, as Afeezah Wojuade managed to edge out Eke Chinenye and Deborah Adegboye, securing full honours. The men’s event, though, saw a familiar face in Okoye Portian dominate, the three-time COG Scrabble Champion proving his mettle once again in this format. A stalwart in the COMUI Scrabble scene, he’s now secured a number of gold medals within and outside the College, his most recent one prior to this event coming in the Ibadan Corporate Games Fest. When reached for comments, he praised the sponsor and outlined the benefits of events such as this to the UCH Scrabble community. “Winning gold again at COG is truly special, and I’m deeply grateful for the experience. More than just personal success, what excites me is how vibrant the UCH Scrabble scene has become. I must commend the incredible initiative of Dr Christopher Osunbote, whose passion and commitment have truly elevated Scrabble here. His efforts are creating opportunities, inspiring players, and giving us all a platform to shine.”
Female Chess would see UI players, Ojo Abimbola of the 2k23 Dentistry Class and Osuntoki Favour of the 2k27 Medicine Class, shut out the rest at the top, finishing on six and five points respectively over the course of six rounds. Ojo’s victory is only the latest in a long line of successes for the University of Ibadan’s strongest female player and African University Games Gold Medalist. Speaking with the press, she attributed the victory to her coaches and her religious beliefs, responding, “I’m grateful to Coach Mexzy, Coach Simeon, Coach Mattace, to the Organisers, to Dr Christopher Osunbote, and above all, I’m grateful to God for the win.”
Male chess expectedly proved the most competitive, with 18 participants bidding for glory, including three members of the UI Team, UI Chess Captain, Oguntona Abraham, UI Chess Vice-Captain, Akporherhe Blessing, and UCH Chess Captain, Okojie Osakwe, and the event would very quickly become a three-horse race. With Okojie rescuing a draw with the black pieces against Akporherhe in round three, the round four clash between Oguntona and Akporherhe would prove crucial to the tournament, and the UI Chess Captain acted decisively, grinding out his opponent after netting a piece thanks to some early missteps. With Okojie side-stepping fast-rising talent, Osisanwo Ifeoluwa of the 2k26 class in an enthralling Marshall, he set up a tournament decider in round five of the championship against Oguntona, scoring the win after an opening oversight from his experienced adversary. The trio were never really in trouble outside of their individual encounters, and the final standings would see defending champion, Okojie Osakwe, finish on 6.5 of 7 points, retaining his title ahead of Oguntona in silver and Akporherhe in bronze. He was full of praise for his opponents in victory, commending them for an excellent fight through the event and overjoyed at the profile of chess within the University College Hospital. “It needs saying that in the University of Ibadan, almost all the top players are medical students, and given the zeal of everyone here to improve, with the regular bouts at this Quadrangle and the efforts taken by some of the semi-professional players to travel out of the state for tournaments and study chess independently, it’s no wonder we’ve seen this much success.”
Most interesting in this event was the inclusion of the creative writing category, the most competitive division financially, with a N50,000 first-place prize. Themed “Black, White and Everything In-Between,” it saw 13 entries from a number of budding writers domiciled in UCH, and competition would prove stiff, with multiple entries offering varying interpretations to the theme. But Salami Wisdom, Editor-in-Chief of Dentatics Press, would indeed leverage his extensive experience to come in clear first, with a piece titled “Nothing In-Between.” Content creator and writer, Kehinde Olajiga of the 2k24 MB;BS class garnered a second-place finish with one of the more off-beat interpretations, titled “Becoming the Devil”, and Adetunji Akorede’s soulful “Symphony of Hurt” secured the bronze medal. On his inspirations, Salami Wisdom would answer with a candid “I was originally going to write a story on something else, the recent final MB results. I decided not to, though, as I felt it might be insensitive. So I started with something around the electricity situation. After that, some other thoughts from other places came, and everything just blended. Twas God, really. I went in with no plan.”
At the closing ceremony of the event, Mr Iredele Ogunbayo, Chairman of the Oyo State Chess Association, praised participants across categories for their commitment to making this event a success, and in addition, enjoined them to give back to the community in ways such as Dr Christopher Osunbote has done, once they have graduated. Dr Oluwaseun Ariyo, Coach of the University of Ibadan Chess Team, was also in attendance, encouraging sportsmen and sportswomen present to continue striving and giving their best. In a closing address read out to participants at the closing ceremony, the sponsor, Dr Osunbote, would include a poignant poser on the nature of the creative writing theme, reflecting, “… if we enter life viewing it through dark lenses, we may view the richness of life’s experiences and what it means to be human as existing in the greys. Perhaps the sun being bright and warm is good, as is the night being cool and quiet.”
