The former Director-General, National Sports Commission (NSC), Alhassan Yakmut has been appointed Team Nigeria’s Chef de Mission to the 12th Africa Games in Rabat, Morocco.
Solomon Dalung, Minister of Youth and Sport, who disclosed this in a statement signed by Nneka Ikem-Anibuze, his Special Assistant on Media, said the appointment was in recognition of his contributions to sports in the country.
According to Dalung, the sports family will gain much by tapping into Yakmut’s wealth of knowledge.
“The appointment of Yakmut as Chef de Mission to the African Games in Morocco is in recognition of his wealth of experience in sports administration and his contributions to sports.
“I believe that one of the challenges of sports development is what I refer to as the ‘Theory of abandonment’.
“Once you are out of the system you are not associated with the sports family but once in a while, your experience is tapped into for the benefit of sports development.
“So I came up with the policy thrust of appointing former sports administrators and former ministers to serve in such capacity so that we can benefit from their wealth of experience.
“This is to give them a sense of belonging and also recognise their contributions,” Dalung said.
He said that last year, a former Director-General of the defunct NSC, Gbenga Elegbeleye, was appointed to lead the delegation to the Winter Olympics in Pyongyang, South Korea.
He said that other former administrators would also be considered for such roles as the opportunity avails.
The minister said that the Chef-de-Mission would be the Games delegation operational leader, Team Manager and the Liason person between the host country and Nigeria.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Yakmut is a former Professional Volleyball player and a board member of the Volleyball Federation of Nigeria.
The 12th African Games will take place from August 24 to Sept. 3, in Rabat, Morocco.
