Chess Master Tunde Onakoya has vowed to sponsor the education of a young girl who went viral in a video showing her mother being publicly humiliated while engaging in child labor
Onakoya, deeply moved by the video, shared his personal connection to their struggle, revealing how similar the mother and child’s story is to his own experiences before achieving success.
On his X page, Onakoya recounted how, in 2016, his mother worked as a housekeeper, sweeping homes and gutters. He expressed the emotional pain he felt during that time, especially since he couldn’t financially help her.
On many occasions, he insisted on accompanying her to help with tasks like fetching water, hoping to finish quickly and avoid drawing attention to their poverty.
Onakoya criticized the cruelty of the viral video, where the mother was humiliated in front of her daughter, and expressed his belief that compassion was a far more appropriate response than outrage. He emphasized that the mother and child deserved help, not scorn.
In a powerful gesture of support, Onakoya promised to take full responsibility for the girl’s education, offering to fund her schooling through university.
He expressed hope that this would ease their burden during such challenging times.
He said: “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 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.”
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The video is just so insensitive
Sawubona, bengifuna ukwazi intengo yakho.