Bayelsa State born Chess prodigy Miss Deborah Quicken has bagged a scholarship for her heroic feat at the Africa Youth Chess Championship in Accra, Ghana.
Quicken became the champion of the U-10 category after winning nine of the ten games she played.
The nine-year old champion was honoured by the Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, during a reception at the Executive Council Chambers of Government House in Yenagoa.
Diri said, “On behalf of the state government and the good people of Bayelsa, I welcome you home and say a big congratulations to you. You are a worthy daughter of the state, and having started on this beautiful note, our government will support you.”
The Governor, in his statement, said he appoints her as the Ambassador of Bayelsa State youths in academics, and the state will sponsor her to a school of choice, whether in Nigeria or overseas, where she can combine academics and sports.
The Governor also promised that her academics would be followed up with the game she already knows (Chess).
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Daniel Alabrah, said aside from appointing Miss Deborah as a youth ambassador, she was also gifted N4 million and a scholarship to the university.
Diri urged parents to train their children in the way they should go to become assets to the society while also commending her parents for teaching her well, as “every giant begins from home.”
The youngest African to win the prestigious chess championship, Quicken had earlier represented Bayelsa at the sixth National Youth Games in Ilorin, Kwara State, where she won three gold medals.