A true story: Nigerian master fights for 1998 Olympiad Medal


Odion AikhojeIM Odion Aikhoje is embroiled in a row with the Nigerian Chess Federation over the rights to his gold medal he won in the 1998 Chess Olympiad in Elista, Russia. The issue has dragged on for nearly a decade, but the situation has recently become acute after Kunle Elegbede has ramped up the pressure by deferring to government officials. The details of this saga are recounted in a very detailed essay at the Nigerian Chess blog run by Elegbede. What it boils down to is an official holding the medal from the Sports Ministry as a leverage for reimbursement money he was owed. The Ministry was to formally present the medal to Aikhoje, but it was intercepted by the one, Theophilus Caifus. The question remains as to why Aikhoje is being pushed in the middle of a battle between Caifus and the Sports Ministry.

Read full story at The Chess Drum, the Pan-African chess site maintained by Daaim Shabazz.

Nigeria chess players forum - another good reference site