By Victor Akaa, Abuja.
The Chairman, Board of National Anti-Doping Committee of Nigeria (NADC), Bar. Rasheed Olarewaju Kazeem has solicited to partner with the Nigerian Army to fight the corruption of doping, as well as protect the core value and discipline in the sporting industry.
Bar. Olarewaju Kazeem made this known when he led the Board members on a courtesy visit to the Chief of Army staff ,Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai in Army headquarters, Abuja.
Kazeem said, the milestone achievement recorded by the Nigerian army in sports has informed their decision to seek for a collaboration.
“ Sir, with milestone achievements by the Army in sports, the objective of our visit today is to seek the collaboration of your esteemed organization as a significant stakeholder in the constant fight against the menace of doping in sports more especially as we prepare our athletes for a successful and dope free participation at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics coming up July to 2020”. Kazeem explained.
According to the team leader, the Nigerian army had always produced disciplined and clean athletes whom had represented the country in both national and international sporting events, saying partnering with army will help maintain sanity in the industry.
“The Nigerian Army is well known in the sporting community for producing some of the best sports men and women who have represented Nigeria at major regional and international sporting events.
Indeed, the capacity of the Army to produce some of the most disciplined athletes in the country is recognized, especially in the sport of wrestling and volleyball.
“ I note that of recent, our Army provided Team Nigeria with some of the top athletes that represented the country at the 2019 all Africa Games in Rabat, Morocco.
The primary goal of the NAP is to protect the core values of sports built on fair play and honesty among others, protect the right of clean athletes and provide a level playing field for all athletes to compete in sports in the country.
Some of the areas of collaboration listed by Bar. Rasheed included, drug testing on athletes as a detection and deterrence measure to doping, anti-doping research activities, as well as anti-doping education activities as measures.
Others were training of athletes and instilling in them a core value athletes in line with the national anti-doping rules through drug testing and education.
He further explained that NADC has planned to create awareness and building a capacity of anti-doping activities so as to promote and enhance doping free culture among athletes in sports.
He was however hopeful that the outcome of the meeting would be far reaching and beneficial to Nigerian athletes and the large sporting community in the country.
In his response, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS),Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai said, the Nigerian Army as an institution, places high premium on rules and regulations in any activities they involved in.
According to Buratai, the Nigerian Army maintains zero tolerance on substance abuse, explaining that all of their athletes takes sports with commitment with a high level of integrity.
He stressed that, the Nigerian army has never recorded any case of indiscipline most especially of doping among her athletes in any sporting event both locally and at the global event.
The representative of COAS, Maj. Gen. Okwidili Azinta who is the Chief of Standards and Evaluation, Army, assured that the partnership within the two parties would promote discipline in sports in Nigeria.
