Wellington Jighere (born ) is a Nigerian ''
Scrabble
''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a Board game, game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, re ...
'' player. He won the
World Scrabble Championship 2015, the first win for an African nation. He defeated Lewis MacKay in four straight wins.
Jighere is nicknamed "
The Cat in the Hat
''The Cat in the Hat'' is a 1957 children's book written and illustrated by American author Dr. Seuss. The story centers on a tall anthropomorphic cat who wears a red and white-striped top hat and a red bow tie. The Cat shows up at the house ...
" for his quiet personality and fondness for hats.
Career
Jighere began playing ''Scrabble'' tournaments in 2002, after winning games versus friends in the tournament scene.
He was the winner of the 2015 Scrabble World Championship, the first win for an African nation. After winning, he received a congratulatory phone call from president
Muhammadu Buhari
Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian army major general, he was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 Augu ...
.
He intended to appear in the
World Scrabble Championship 2016, but the French government denied his passport, along with every other member of the Nigerian ''Scrabble'' team.
In 2020, he announced his retirement from tournament ''Scrabble'', due to not being paid prize money. He unretired in 2023, making an appearance in the
year's World Scrabble Championship.
Achievements
*World Scrabble Championships
:*
2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
– 3rd place
:*
2009
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
– 11th place
:*
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
– winner
:*
2017
2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly.
Events January
* January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
– 4th place
:*
2023
Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
– 4th place
*North American
Scrabble Players Championship
The Scrabble Players Championship (formerly the North American Scrabble Championship, and earlier the National Scrabble Championship) is the largest ''Scrabble'' competition in North America. The event is currently held every year, and from 2004 t ...
:*2023 32nd National Championship Finals (
CSW) – winner
*African Scrabble Championship / Pan African Championship
:*2006 – 7th place
:*2008 – winner
:*2010 – winner
:*2014 – 20th place
:*2016 – 11th place
:*2022 – 2nd place
*West African Scrabble Championship
:*2022 – 3rd place
*Nigerian National Scrabble Tournament
:*2019 – winner
*Asaf Zadok Nigerian National Championship
:*2017 – 14th place
*MGI (Mind Games Incorporated) Scrabble Grand Slam
:*2022 – winner
*Scrabble In The Jungle Nigeria
:*2022 – winner
*Lekki scrabble classic championship
:*2023 – 2nd place
*Wellington Classics, Nigeria
:*2017 – winner
References
External links
*
World Scrabble Championship winners
Living people
1982 births
People from Edo State
University of Benin (Nigeria) alumni
Nigerian Scrabble players
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