Nigeria is an international Scrabble powerhouse, currently home to 29 of the top-100 English-language Scrabble players in the world.

And next week, eight of its elite players will represent the country at the 2017 World English-Language Scrabble Players’ Association (WESPA) Championship in Kenya from November 8-12.

In 2015, Nigerian Wellington Jighere became the first African to win a Scrabble World Championship, and will be leading his country’s team at the week-long tournament.

VICE News caught up with Jighere at a Nigerian national level tournament ahead of the world championships, to learn about the tactics that make Nigeria one of the most formidable forces in the Scrabble world.

He says having a concentration of the world’s best players is part of what makes Nigerians uniquely adept at the board-game turned sport.

“It is like a family and we’ve been with each other for so long,”Jighere said.