Afolayan emerges Queen of Nigerian Scrabble

Posted : 01 September 2024

Nigerian singer, songwriter, and coach Bukunmi Afolayan has been crowned Queen of Nigerian Scrabble at the recently concluded All Nigeria Amazon Scrabble Championship in Benin City, Edo State, South-South Nigeria.

The remarkable Scrabble tactician emerged as the champion on Sunday after a last-minute victory over Divine Imode, who faltered towards the end and bowed out in the final moments.

Afolayan demonstrated her skill on the board throughout the two-day championship, winning ten out of twelve games and losing twice by narrow margins of 4 and 12 points in rounds 2 and 9, respectively.

Despite a tough match against Divine in round 9, Afolayan dominated the final two games, taking advantage of Divine’s lack of composure.

Divine, known for her chic haircut, settled for third place after losing 536–361 and 392–288 in the final games of the day.

Joy Ola, the 2023 African Games gold medalist, secured second place with a higher cumulative score of +948 from 9 wins and 3 losses.

Tournament top seed Akpos Malafukumo Best did not meet expectations, finishing in 7th place with 8 wins, the same as 5th placed Priscilla Akhabue. Adebisi Adekansi took 6th place, and Osibote Omotayo ended up in 8th.

Last place went to Ohikehena Igie, who did not win any games and ended with a cumulative score of -3476 points.

Victorious Bukunmi Afolayan walked away with N320,000 following an elaborate closing ceremony.

“Firstly, I give all thanks to God Almighty and to the organizers, Words and Wits, for putting together this memorable occasion. It’s the first of its kind, and I hope that next year it can be expanded so that people outside Nigeria and Africa can also enjoy some of the things we experienced,” Afolayan said.

She added, “I also want to say that this is a wake-up call for us women to improve and get better, because from what I saw today, it shows that the ferocity with which we females play has significantly improved.”

“This championship has also shown that we have younger players coming up who can represent us at the national youth games. It serves as a preparatory tournament before the Youth Games,” the singer concluded.

The closing ceremony was attended by various dignitaries, including Peace Ifidon, General Manager of Vibes FM, who presented the crown to Bukunmi Afolayan, and Engineer Toke Aka, President of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF).

Others in attendance were Engineer Osikhena Ojior, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Physical Planning, Housing, Urban and Regional Development, Edo State; Prince Sir Anthony Ikolo, head coach of the Scrabble national team; and Samuel Eromosele, youth national Scrabble coach.

The mastermind behind the successful event, Vice President of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation NSF, Engineer Bright Idahosa, was delighted with the players' performance.

Over N1.1 million was awarded as prize money for the event, with Idahosa working tirelessly to ensure the championship’s success.

Afolayan emerges Queen of Nigerian Scrabble

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