By Halima Muhammad
The National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) has urged the National Anti-Doping Centre to intensify research in the fight against illicit and prohibited substances in sporting activities.
The Chairman of NSIWC, Maj.-Gen. Junaidu Bindawa (Rtd.), made the call when the management staff of the National Anti-Doping Centre, led by its Executive Secretary, Malam Mainasara Iloh, paid a courtesy visit to the commission.
This is contained in a statement issued by the Head, Press and Protocol of NSIWC, Emmanuel Njoku on Monday in Abuja.
Bindawa said the call had become necessary due to the scientific nature of doping and the increasing use of illicit drugs in sporting activities worldwide.
He stressed the need for the centre to establish a strong and functional laboratory in the country to enhance its capacity to detect prohibited substances.
“The mandate of the Centre has become very vital if the country must achieve sanity in sporting activities,” Bindawa said.
Earlier, Iloh said the Federal Government in 1999 identified the need to check the use of illicit drugs and steroids in sports due of the huge financial interests involved globally.
He said the move was also aimed at reducing incessant deaths associated with the use of illicit substances, promoting fair play and ensuring that athletes relied on their natural talents.
According to Iloh, Nigeria is among the first African countries to become signatories to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) .
He said it took the country 27 years, through 16 Ministers and Heads of National Sports Commission for the Anti-doping Act to be approved and accented to by the president in January.
“One of the major responsibilities of the Centre is to ensure that athletes and sports men and women are deterred from the use of drugs and prohibited substances.
“The centre also educates and inform them on the dangers of doping, and also test each and every person participating in sports at whatever level in Nigeria and at global level,” he said.
Iloh said Nigeria was the first country to formulate a policy on anti-doping rules and regulations, which had been submitted to WADA for vetting and final endorsement.
“Through research, the Centre is going many steps ahead of the defaulters, especially as some drugs are masked in food supplements, baby doping, weighing and blood doping etc,” he said.
According to him, the centre has identified more than two thousand illicit and prohibited drugs and steroids. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Ese E. Ekama-Williams