Nigeria 2019 AAG preparation is ahead of schedule- Yakmut assures

July 26 13:24 2019 by The Ajasa News Print This Article

By Martin Odiete

The Chef De mission of the Nigeria contingent to the 12^th All Africa Games and former Director General of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Alhassan Yakmut has rubbished claims from some quarters that Nigeria Athletes are far behind schedule in their preparation for the Games billed to hold in Rabat, Morocco.

Some concerned coaches have queried the training program of the Nigeria athletes arguing that the three weeks closed camping period was totally inadequate to prepare them to challenge for the top spot of the All Africa Games.

But, the man who should know about preparations for such big tournaments having being a former athlete and an astute sports administrator for several years told www.theajasanews.com in Abuja on Thursday that with the number of weeks the athletes did during the off camp period in addition with the three weeks closed camping is enough to prepare them for the Africa biggest sporting showpiece.

“The ministry was actually proactive. When the protocol of securing funds was been pursued they actually had commenced the open camping and now they are in the closed camp. So, I think the challenge now is between us and other competitors and we are gearing up towards meeting that standard of making sure that if we don’t meet up the record, we will surpass it.

Speaking further, Yakmut maintained that his believe in the prospect of Nigeria athletes winning medals at the game was even reinvigorated after listening to the report from the various camps of the team delivered by the Director of FEED in the Ministry of Youth and Sports.  

“The technical aspect of it is most encouraging. The update given by the Director FEED is very encouraging, from the six camps across the country is very encouraging. Athletes are in good shape, the medical report says that they are in good health and there are very minimum injuries. Now we are moving to the last technical stage which is to be sure that no single athlete that is there is not a potential medalist,” he said. i