.President Muhammadu Buhari has surprised those who
think his administration will not accord sports priority by
approving funds to ensure preparations ahead of the 2015
All African Games.
The Director General of the National Sports Commission,
Alhassan Yakmut confirmed yesterday after addressing the
athletes undergoing training.
The All African
Games is holding in
Congo Brazzaville
from September 4
to 19, 2015. This is a
clear departure
from the usual
practice of releasing
funds two weeks to
a major
international event.
An excited Yakmut
promised to release the approved figure to the public in line
with ‘Change Agenda’ which promotes transparency in
governance.
“Mr. President has just approved the funds for the All
African Games and I understand we shall be formally
informed on Tuesday.
“So, as soon as we get the information about the exact figure
approved from the budget we submitted, we will make it
open to the public because we intend to run a very
transparent administration.
“ And I think by the time we finish computing all what we
have done in the last three months, we are going to say how
much has been spent on each item of the projects that we
have executed including the Federations.
“And I am sure that you have noticed that the Federations
are beginning to feel the public funding scheme especially
the ones regarding the All African Games,” Yakmut added.
According to him, apart from the 19 sports that Nigeria will
participate in, two other sports namely swimming and
gymnastics have been placed on standby in the event that
there would be athletes that are exceptionally good to
represent the country in the two sports.
To ensure that athletes have the best preparations, Yakmut
said that the Federations that have requested for foreign
technical support would have them.
The Director General spoke further on this, “We are taking
part in 19 events and two other events that are actually on
standby. If we have pockets of athletes that are exceptionally
good like gymnastic and swimming, we will carry them on
their merit.
“Regarding technical aid, in fact we are in global technical
business and we cannot reduce ourselves to a situation that
no matter how bad our coaches are, we must sustain and
retain them.
“What we have done is to support the four federations that
have requested that they will need technical back-ups from
foreign countries.
“So, wrestling has requested for two back-ups either from
Europe, the United States or Canada. Table tennis has also
requested fat technical support from Sweden, China or
Japan.
“Already, South Korea is supporting us on taekwondo and
basketball has already recruited transparently.
“All these we are doing to make sure that we don’t leave
technical opportunities unattended to,” Yakmut assured.
think his administration will not accord sports priority by
approving funds to ensure preparations ahead of the 2015
All African Games.
The Director General of the National Sports Commission,
Alhassan Yakmut confirmed yesterday after addressing the
athletes undergoing training.
The All African
Games is holding in
Congo Brazzaville
from September 4
to 19, 2015. This is a
clear departure
from the usual
practice of releasing
funds two weeks to
a major
international event.
An excited Yakmut
promised to release the approved figure to the public in line
with ‘Change Agenda’ which promotes transparency in
governance.
“Mr. President has just approved the funds for the All
African Games and I understand we shall be formally
informed on Tuesday.
“So, as soon as we get the information about the exact figure
approved from the budget we submitted, we will make it
open to the public because we intend to run a very
transparent administration.
“ And I think by the time we finish computing all what we
have done in the last three months, we are going to say how
much has been spent on each item of the projects that we
have executed including the Federations.
“And I am sure that you have noticed that the Federations
are beginning to feel the public funding scheme especially
the ones regarding the All African Games,” Yakmut added.
According to him, apart from the 19 sports that Nigeria will
participate in, two other sports namely swimming and
gymnastics have been placed on standby in the event that
there would be athletes that are exceptionally good to
represent the country in the two sports.
To ensure that athletes have the best preparations, Yakmut
said that the Federations that have requested for foreign
technical support would have them.
The Director General spoke further on this, “We are taking
part in 19 events and two other events that are actually on
standby. If we have pockets of athletes that are exceptionally
good like gymnastic and swimming, we will carry them on
their merit.
“Regarding technical aid, in fact we are in global technical
business and we cannot reduce ourselves to a situation that
no matter how bad our coaches are, we must sustain and
retain them.
“What we have done is to support the four federations that
have requested that they will need technical back-ups from
foreign countries.
“So, wrestling has requested for two back-ups either from
Europe, the United States or Canada. Table tennis has also
requested fat technical support from Sweden, China or
Japan.
“Already, South Korea is supporting us on taekwondo and
basketball has already recruited transparently.
“All these we are doing to make sure that we don’t leave
technical opportunities unattended to,” Yakmut assured.
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