Former Director-General of the National Sports Commission Mallam Alhassan Yakmut has been appointed Team Nigeria’s Chief de Mission to the 12th All Africa Games in Rabat Morocco later in the year.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Barrister Solomon Dalung who made the appointment said it was in recognition of his contributions to sports in the country.
According to Dalung, the sports family will gain much by tapping into Mallam Yakmut’s wealth of knowledge.
“The appointment of Mallam Alhassan Yakmut as Chief de Mission to the African Games in Morocco in June 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 recognize their contributions,” Dalung said.
Last year, a former Director-General of the then National Sports Commission Otunba Gbenga Elegbeleye was appointed to lead the delegation to the Winter Olympics in Pyongyang, South Korea.
“Other former administrators will also be considered for such roles, as the opportunity avails,” Dalung stated.
The Chief-de-Mission is the Games delegation operational leader, Team Manager and the Liaison person between the host country and Nigeria.
Mallam Yakmut is a former Professional Volleyball player and a board member of the Volleyball Federation of Nigeria.
He is currently the Director, Special Duties of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
The 12th All African Games will take place from August 23 to September 3, 2019 in Rabat, Morocco. This will be the first time that the African Games will be hosted by Morocco.
