On the 25th of September, 2025, the Chess and Scrabble Pre-NUGA Qualifiers were held at the Youth Friendly Centre, University of Ibadan, pitting the University of Ibadan against Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in the Zone B Qualifiers for November’s centrepiece in Jos.
The University of Ibadan will have a more straightforward coast to victory in Scrabble, beating the LAUTECH team in all nine rounds in both the male and female categories. Psychology’s Kingsley Enyi, fresh off his victory in the Opens Category of the National BSP Scrabble Tournament, will storm through the field, scoring nine out of nine wins, with an average score of 507. Kelani Funmilola of the Department of Pharmacy, with eight wins and one loss, would post the best result among women, the FASU medalist averaging 436 points through this run.
The Chess Female event would see UI qualify automatically, as LAUTECH was unable to field a complete team. Male Chess, however, would see proceedings go down to the wire, with results decided on the final board to finish. The first result on the day came from the encounter between Oludoyi Oluwatoyin and Okeleye Andrew, the duo sharing the spoils in a Two rooks versus Queen ending. But UI would soon edge ahead, after team captain, Oguntona Abraham struck decisively with the white pieces. The result will, however, slip into jeopardy with Okojie Osakwe surprisingly dropping points against Salimon Abdulrasheed, meaning that everything would hinge on the final game ongoing, Akporherhe Blessing of UI, up against Ojo Oluwatoyosi of LAUTECH. A tricky rook ending with an imbalanced pawn structure will quickly morph from worse to winning for the UI team, with Akporherhe’s e-pawn proving decisive. UI took the match 2.5-1.5, ensuring the All-African University Games Bronze medalists have an opportunity to build on that result as they aim for the all-important Gold at the National Showcase this year.
In conversation with the Press, UI Chess Captain, Abraham Oguntona reflected, “I’m very happy we qualified, though it wasn’t so easy. We were favourites, but LAUTECH is known to always put up a good fight, and they did just that. It was a close match, and it’s clear that chess in Nigeria is evolving, and you’ll always have to prove yourself over the board regardless of who your opponent is.” All roads lead to Jos now, for UI’s Chess and Scrabble teams as they don that blue and gold once more, and indeed, they will be well-positioned to take this advice to heart.