Why Nigeria Must Do Dope Tests for Athletes

By Lilian Mabeek/

Dope Test is the first step organisers of competions should conduct for their main contenders, like defending champions and new challengers to record holders.

There are plethora of cases where a winner would have been announced, with all the ceremonies and fanfares  from dignitaries in attendance and eventually a presentation of the prize money by a public figure, in many cases presidents, governors are invited to do these presentations, only for the winner to fail a dope test.

These occurrences are not only embarrassing but also defeat the purpose of the competition in the first place. Organisers spend a fortune to organise, plan an event but fail to conduct Dope Test as a criteria for participation in the first place these fundamental failure gives the impression that the organisers are not gravitating towards giving the prize money to the best deserving winner and discovering of a talent that can equate world Athletes when similar championship is hosted.

Nigeria is blessed with a generation of raw talents who can dare to defeat other countries if the right facilities and sponsorship are in place. These young girls and boys are not given a platform to showcase themselves through government involvement at all levels to provide the required equipments, sponsorship and mentoring.

Every day on the streets of Nigeria, for any sport lover, you will find a chunk of groups who engage in sports training, especially football. There are different locations in open fields playing local footballs. These local leagues are formed out of little or nothing to get their love for football aflame. One wonders why officials in  sports commissions drive along major streets without observing these youngsters. If they are properly engaged and discovered, it will give these amateurs a sense of belonging that the mental picture of their various heros can be replicated in them.

Nigeria has produced world champions living and alive, and their stories and struggles of attaining greatness can not be written off. It took their passion for sports to bring their dreams alive. In their capacity and toughness, these superstars brought glory to Nigeria despite Nigeria’s ineptitude towards sports investment.

Sports is the most popular physical activity; a way of competition that brings enemies together. It unites the world through peace because during the competition everyone settles for its best players or hails its own country. At the end of the game you can see enemies making up because a good match was worth the time.

Marathon has been known as a game of the East Africans. Their location has prevailed in their constant winning.

Aside the location of their country and adaptations of their bodies, East Africans have remained consistent with long runs winnings and they have not drifted away, but they are a delight to watch anytime they are on the race of marathon. Their legs are never tired, there is a coordination of their physical alertness and mental alertness that is a persistent movement in all their athletes that has notched a cliff for World marathon records.

Marathon is not a well known sport in Nigeria. States like Lagos have started discovering talents in these East African dominated games. Competitions have been conducted by Lagos State and other states, and private companies have also conducted marathons that had the East Africans coming to Nigeria to win the prize money. It is a welcome development, but apart from winning, Nigerian sports commission needs to do much more in synchronisation of interested athletes who want to take up marathon as a form of sports.

As the sports federation and commission usher in 2023, like all other world sporting countries have done, a dope test for athletes should be made a priority for participation or enrollment. There have been a series of complaints against Marathon organisers that dope test are never conducted, and participants inject themselves with all manners of substances to propel them and thereby stimulating their performance. Foul plays like these are criminal offence and dope test if conducted would fish out substance abusers who only want the prize money without the spirit of the game which is giving the audience a good entertainment and play for their precious time.

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