A sixteen year-old Habib Rabiu of Kings College, Lagos, over the weekend, emerged winner of the 1st annual City of Lagos Monopoly tournament, beating their opponent Queens College of Lagos to win the N1m prize money.
The game, played at the Terra Kulture, on Lagos Island, saw eight participants each from both schools playing to outwit one another, with Kings College emerging tops at the end of a -5 hour interesting contest.
Speaking while explaining her passion for the tournament, Nimi Akinkugbe, CEO, Bestman Games, organisers of the championship, said it was primarily meant to expose both the young and the old to imbibe strict adherence to financial discipline.
According to her, ‘’we are driven by the passion to promote financial literacy in the youth for the economic development of a country like ours. People have to be taught about managing money to get out of serious financial difficulty. And we felt it would benefit the country a great deal if we begin to encourage the young ones from an early age to start managing their finances”.
She urged youths and the elderly to take to playing monopoly as it teaches one how to not only manage their finances but also to behave well in the society.
‘’No matter how small your income, you will be amazed how much you can save over time. People want to get rich quick, but by saving gradually, you can get whatever you wish in life and this is what the game of monopoly teaches us.
“We encourage the game so as to make Nigerians have a strong financial thinking.
The monopoly game is played by people of all ages. It is a fantastic tool for young children to continue to use their minds in negotiation, thinking and engaging their time.
‘’We saw the benefits of it promoting financial literacy, family relationships and family values. It tells you also about the laws of the land. The Lagos State government is involved in this. We have the environmental laws and the chart and as you play, it penalises bad behaviour when you are playing, and rewards good behaviour. It is about ethics and integrity.
As organisers, we intend to get the game of monopoly into the school curriculum, this is what we are trying to do, that is encourage schools to inculcate monopoly in their school curriculum,” Akinkugbe stated.