Veteran Journalist and former Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) Sunday Dare, is the new Minister of Youth and sports Development.
President Muhammadu Buhari, announced this Wednesday at the Aso Villa where he also swore in 42 other ministers and dished out their much awaited portfolios. Dare who holds a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from the University of Jos replaces former sports minister Solomon Dalung who was not considered for re-appointment.
A fellow of the Prestigious Harvard Nieman Journalism fellowship, 53-year-old, Dare is expected to hit the ground running as Team Nigeria is currently competing for laurels at the ongoing African Games in Morocco while many say preparation for the Tokyo Olympics next year as well as qualifiers for the next world cup Qatar 2022 are some of the issues that are likely to hit his table in a jiffy.
Dare who is not a novice to broadcasting served as Chief, Hausa Service, and African Division at Voice of America (VOA) in Washington, DC between 2001 and 2009.
In this capacity he managed multifarious portfolios. Other than managing the daily production of radio and online broadcast programs, he designed and implemented the acquisition of modern Information Technology and Telecoms gadgets for production and distribution activities such as news-gathering, content storage, program distribution etc. to expand content capacity and reach; as well as increase existing target audience.
In his early days as a Journalist, Dare multitasked as a correspondent with several foreign publications including The Nation magazine in New York; as well as working with the European backed Fourth Estate magazine as a production editor during the military interregnum in Nigeria.
Other journalistic role Dare took on during the military era in Nigeria include being a pioneer member of the Nigerian weekly magazines The News and Tempo; serving as an Editor, Tempo magazine and pioneer Online Editor. He becomes the 35th Sports Minister in Nigerian sports history.
