WADA Clears Nigeria of Anti Doping Rules Non-compliance

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has signed off on all outstanding critical and high priority corrective actions required of Nigeria following its review of the National Anti-Doping Committee (NADC’s) continuous monitoring programme, corrective action plan and its efforts to address same.

This latest development was conveyed to Nigeria in two separate letters dated August 2nd and 4th, 2021 and addressed to the NADC.

“Following the review of your continous monitoring programme, corrective action plan and your responses to address the required critical and high priority corrective actions, we are pleased to inform you that WADA has concluded that your organisation has appropriately addressed all critical corrective actions,” read the first letter while the second, specifically addressed to the head of NADC, Dr Fadekemi Fadeyibi delivered the cheering news.

”Following the latest developments, we have signed off in the CCC the remaining critical corrective action. Therefore the relevant compliance procedure has now been closed,” read the second letter.

By implication, Nigeria has satisfactorily addressed all the non-conformities identified with its national anti- doping programme and code compliance which led to the country’s delisting by WADA on 6th December, 2018.

Although WADA reinstated Nigeria shortly after following its recognition of some initial steps taken by NADC, the implementation of these corrective actions were deemed outstanding until the recent acknowledgment of satisfactory implementation by WADA.

Nigeria was declared a non-compliant code signatory in December 2018 for deficiencies identified in NADC’s national anti-doping programme and required to implement some critical corrective actions.

With the House of Representatives Committee on Sports holding a public hearing to address the non-eligibility of 10 Nigerian athletes to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in July and August, it is expected that legislative backing could not have come at a better time to remove permanently the embarrassment of stopping Nigerian athletes from competing in continental and global sports fiesta.

With the right legislation, Nigeria’s anti-doping administration can compare with key NADOs in the African region namely the South African and Kenyan NADOs.

Already, the Sports Committee has invited the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare to come and shed light on what happened in Tokyo.

However, track & field aficionados believe to get to the root cause of the embarrassment in Tokyo, the immediate past board of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria recognised by both World Athletics and the Athletics Integrity Unit should also be invite to explain why it neither appointed a qualified anti-doping officer nor set up an anti doping committee for four years it was in charge of Nigeria’s athletics.