Towards cementing the
nascent peace and youth empowerment in Khana Local government area of Rivers State, a football tournament tagged Peace and Unity Cup kicked off in Bori, Khana LGA on Sunday.
The competition, a cording to the care-taker Committee Chairman of Khana Council, Hon. Sunny Bekanwah, is being played among 32 teams across all the villages in the local government area. Also, the first phase a youth empowerment scheme in the area commenced alongside the football tournament.
Speaking to newsmen shortly before kickoff of the competition in Bori, the Chairman said that the Council decided to embark on the tournament to enhance the peace currently prevailing in the communities and empower the youth.
He said that after consultations, he discovered that football would be a good tool to use to foster peace among the youth and give them the platform to further explore their talents.
“The game of football engenders peace and as a youth leader and from interaction, we know that it is football that we can use to cement the existing peace in the area. The youth are happy that we chose football”, he said.
The Chairman however, explained that sporting activities in the area would not be limited to football as the council has put together a team to assess the area and see other sports that could be explored.
Meanwhile, the football tournament which is expected to end on the 13th of this month will attract the sum of N500,000, N3000,000 and N2000,000 prize money, respectively to the winners, first and second runners up in the competition, while the overall best player and goalkeeper will each earn the sum of N300,000.
At the end of the day, the Council hopes to keep together players discovered from the tournament, wean them and form a team that can fly the flag of the local government.
In the opening match on Sunday, Zaakpon United FC pipped Gbenebomaa FC of Bane 1-0, courtesy of a second half strike by substitute Gbaranwi Savior.