Three-time African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto'o hopes that a three-day visit to Kenya and Uganda will prove an inspiration to young people.

Eto'o shows his skills to schoolchildren in Kampala

The purpose was to use football as a tool to train and educate children on key life skills.

"You know that in life we all need role models and we also need to have a dream," said Eto'o.

"My dream when I was young was to be like [Cameroon legend] Roger Milla. I didn't become exactly like him, but I don't think I've taken the wrong path either.

"I'd like to show these children that it's possible to get anywhere they'd like to be. All they need is discipline and the will to get to where they want to be.

"People have come to see that you learn life skills through football - you could start playing football and become a doctor or a lawyer or anything."

Just as the 2007 BBC African Footballer of the Year, Emmanuel Adebayor, has been giving credit to his mother for her support of his talent, so too has Eto'o.

My parents played a very important role in nurturing me... in Africa it's mothers that show the way Samuel Eto'o

"My parents played a very important role in nurturing me, especially my Mum, because in Africa it's mothers that show the way.

"They weren't afraid to see me get dirty, so they encouraged me to play football.

"The important thing in life is to know where you're coming from, where you are and where you're going.

"So when I started, I told myself I needed to reach somewhere, to show that Africa's not just about diseases, that in Africa you can become anything you want to be, as long as you have the will."

Eto'o also had a word on the development of the game in east Africa, a region starved of international success.

He challenged authorities in Uganda to invest in football schools and academies if the country is to become a continental powerhouse.

He said that although Cameroon's league is not the best in Africa, the secret behind their success both on the continent and globally is investment in young talent.