The Kavod Relief Initiative (KRI) has said football can serve as a powerful entry point for introducing adolescents from underserved communities to technology and digital skills.

The organisation explained that football was deliberately adopted as a gateway to engage young people and connect them to digital opportunities capable of shaping their future.

The Founder and Chief Servant of KRI, Mr Ransomed Chibueze, disclosed this at the Football Meets Tech: Goals for Skills programme organised by the Kavod Relief Initiative in partnership with the Guardian Initiative for Community Development (GICD) in Jos, Plateau State.

Explaining the rationale behind the initiative, Chibueze noted that many adolescents in underserved communities lack access to formal education, limiting their ability to contribute meaningfully to society.

In a statement, he said the programme replaces conventional cash prizes with laptops, skills training and mentorship to ensure a lasting impact on participants.
“I’m a fitness person and everything I do is drawn from the interactions that I have got physically. One of the prevalent issues these adolescents face is that most of them don’t have access to basic or formal education and what this means is they are unable to contribute meaningfully to the society,” he said.
“So one of our key strategies is using sports as an entry point to other services. Basically, it’s using sports to facilitate entry into tech and digital services and ensuring that they are empowered to be able to contribute meaningfully to the society even though they were not able to go through the four walls of a formal school.
“For cash prizes you can’t really control what you do with it, but replacing it with skills, which is basically tech and other digital skills like software engineering, product management, front-end and back-end development, means that they are able to learn a skill that is going to help them contribute meaningfully to the society.
“Adolescence is basically the make-or-break point for most humans. Meeting them at this point, helping and guiding them to make better choices and life decisions, means they would have fewer social vices and become more meaningful and quality adolescents and, in the near future, adults,” he added.

In his remarks, the Plateau State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Karoline Dafur, represented by the Director of Child Development, Mr Dombin Sunday, said initiatives like the programme help groom children early and prepare them for responsibility.

He stressed the importance of skills acquisition for the girl child and vulnerable children.
“To catch the little ones, it is at this age, the younger ages, that we groom them to be something in the society. Occasions like this football tournament and GBV lecture help to discipline them.
“When they have a skill, even if white-collar jobs are not available, they will be able to stand on their own. That is why skill acquisition is good for the girl child,” he said.

Also speaking, the Executive Director of GICD, Mr Ubangari Donald Bitkwoet, described the partnership with KRI as natural, noting that the football-meets-tech model is both innovative and impactful.
“Our objectives and priorities are aligned, especially in working with children from underserved communities with the least possible chances of realising their potentials.
“Football has its own purpose in terms of social and emotional development of children, and on the other hand, tech prepares them for the future, makes them employable and able to solve contemporary and future problems,” he said.
Former Nigerian international footballer, Mr Terry Envoh, said initiatives like Goals for Skills are critical for discovering grassroots talents and preparing young people for life after football.
“I started just like this, and football is a short career. Acquiring skills is the best because if anything happens, you can fall back on it,” he said.

On community impact, a representative of the Angwan Rukuba community leader, Mr Indelible Joshua Ayiki, said the programme promoted unity and talent discovery among children, thanking the organisers for bringing opportunities to the community.

At the end of the tournament, Team 1, tagged End Violence Against Children, emerged winners and received ₦200,000, while Team 4, Say No to Drug Abuse, finished second and received ₦100,000. Laptops, scholarships and mentorship opportunities were also awarded to outstanding participants.