Stakeholders Call For Collaboration To Combat Doping In Sports
Stakeholders have called for collaboration to combat doping in sports which they said had reached an alarming proportion in Nigeria, at a workshop with the theme, “Symposium Against Use of Illicit Substances, Drug Abuse and Doping (2024 Olympics in View).”
The stakeholders made the call during the event, which was organised by the Lagos chapter of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN).
Chairman of the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig.-Gen (Rtd.) Buba Marwa, represented by Segun Oke, Zonal Commander Zone H, said the symposium was an opportunity to chart a united front against drug abuse.
“Doping is the act of using drug enhancement pills to induce artificial success. Whoever uses enhancement drugs as an athlete is a fraud,” he said.
“Imagine if we start dancing that our athletes have won a medal, and the next minute the athlete is stripped of the medal; the shame this brings is unquantifiable.”
A Deputy Director at the National Anti-doping Committee (NADC), Ralph Okafor, urged athletes to always get clearance before medication when ill.
“Doping is an act focused on winning at all cost. In some cases athletes take some medications that have banned substances in them without knowing, but as we say ignorance is no excuse,” Okafor added.
“There’s something called Therapeutic Use Exception (TUE). When an athlete is being treated for asthma for instance, there are some of these banned substances in a particular drug.”
What the athlete can do is to write to us and we will ask for test results before we give such athlete permission to use the drug. Some of these athletes are not even knowledgeable about things they should know as professionals,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the organisers of the symposium, SWAN, Lagos, Olatutu Oladunni said it was necessary to talk about the dangers associated with doping and its effect on youths.
“We can’t exhaust this conversation, that’s why it became necessary for us all to join hands together to minimise or totally eradicate this menace,” Oladunni said.
“I’m thankful for the presence of all these government agencies both at the federal and state levels; this partnership will bring forth a new and well educated Nigerian youth that knows better than to use performance enhancing drugs.”
“I’m grateful to all the heads of the government agencies, Brig.-Gen (Rtd.) Buba Marwa, just like he repositioned Lagos during his military administration, his winning streak is commendable in his fight against drug abuse,” she concluded.
