Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Tamuno Danagogo, has explained that for contributing to the development of a youth sports charter for Commonwealth countries, the acting Director General of NSC, Alhassan Yakmut, earned appointment into the Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had in December 2014 written to Danagogo on the request by the Commonwealth Secretary General to nominate a Nigerian technocrat who is knowledgeable in sports policy issues as well as committed and willing to dedicate time and energy to the activities of CABOS.
In nominating Yakmut in January, Danagogo had written to the Foreign Affairs Ministry: “Having carefully studied the request and the requirements, I hereby nominate the present Director of Grassroots Sports development (Yakmut), a technocrat, sportsman and seasoned administrator to serve on the sports advisory body at the Commonwealth as a government representative or expert.”
Danagogo explained to the Ministry that Yakmut had earlier “contributed to the development of a youth sports charter for Commonwealth countries between August 12 and 13, 2013,” and thus would be most suitable for the job.
Yakmut, 54, apart from the 25 years he has put in sports policy development and implementation, has also coordinated sports development activities in three geo-political zones, covering 18 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and developed the conceptual note and operational framework of the first National Youth Games (NYG) where 4,250 youths participated.
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, has commended the federal government for the nomination.
Sharma said, in the appointment letter addressed to Yakmut: “We also acknowledge with gratitude the commitment of the government of Nigeria to providing support for your membership and participation.”
Sharma stressed that the appointment, which is for a duration of three years from May 1, 2015 to December 31, 2018 will afford the acting director general opportunity to contribute towards sports and development in the Commonwealth.
“The knowledge and expertise you bring to CABOS will enrich the contribution it is able to make towards sports development in the Commonwealth,” he said, adding that the mandate of the body “is to advise the Commonwealth Secretariat and member governments on policies relating to sport, particularly Sport for Development and Peace”.