Oluwafemi Ayorinde is one of the brains behind the Nigeria Anti-Doping Committee (NADC) under the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development. The Sweden-trained anti-doping expert has been at the forefront of enlightening athletes on the dangers of doping and amid the 10-year ban on Blessing Okagbare, Ayorinde has made a clarion call on young athletes. DAMILOLA ALAGBE, reports.
His involvement in the anti-doping training dated back to the 1990s but Dr. Oluwafemi Ayorinde, the retired Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NADC, is still not yet tired of preaching the gospel of clean sport and the negative effects of using drugs to athletes.
“Blessing Okagbare’s ban is unfortunate and an embarrassment to Nigeria at large,” a crest-fallen Ayorinde began in an instructive interview with NationSport. “Nigerians looked forward to winning laurels at the Olympics, and I personally thought Tokyo 2020 would have been the peak of her performance before retirement.”
From his reservoir of knowledge, Ayorinde is not oblivious of the reasons some athletes resorted to doping, adding it’s about time administrators wake up to their own responsibilities in order to alleviate some of the burdens on athletes.
He said: “There are so many reasons why athletes get into doping. The first of which is the desire to win at all costs. Most athletes believed that they must use performance-enhancing drugs in order to become world champions.
“Also, the financial rewards and fame associated with winning. Some athletes don’t mind being on the podium after singing the national anthem looking at the flag of their country, they don’t mind getting down, collapsing, and dying.
“Coaches and officials push athletes to dope because of the cut they have in athletes’ remuneration. Also, government and sports officials attach a lot of monetary value to winning without paying attention to good preparation. While pressure from the media can also push athletes to use drugs.
“Unfortunately, we also lay emphasis on taking part in competitions more than the development of sports even in the face of apparent inadequate sporting facilities and equipment.
“The tragic economic situation of the country does not also help matters since the majority of the athletes are breadwinners of their families, they can also go any length in order to win because of the financial rewards they are going to get consequently they resorted to doping.
Of course, there are always two sides of a coin and Ayorinde admitted that there are two categories of athletes as far as doping is concerned, saying some did it deliberately while others unknowingly got involved in the uncharitable exercise.
“Most of the top athletes that dope do it deliberately; some other athletes copy the top athletes while some especially junior athletes may not know that they are being given by the coaches and officials,” he explained. “For example, athletes that tested positive at the Youth Games must have been given the prohibited substance by their coaches and officials unknowingly.”
Yet Ayorinde said there are concerted efforts by NADC at eradicating the malaise amongst Nigerian athletes. “Doping control management in the country is being managed by NADC and a lot of efforts have gone into reducing the incidences of doping in Nigeria.
“This committee is doing a lot to educate and inform the athletes on doping issues, but there is still a lot to be done to achieve the desired results.
“A lot of enlightenment is being carried out by NADC but more still has to be done. Anti-doping education should cascade down from international level to national level as well as secondary and primary school levels.
“Anti-doping education and information should start as early as possible before the child has a formed opinion because if the child already has a belief or opinion on doping, it is difficult to change.”
Despite the obvious mandate of NADC, Ayorinde lamented that syndicate who benefits from doping are also getting sophisticated; adding that the agency would have to redouble its efforts in curbing the growing indices.
“I can describe doping as an illegitimate organized venture,” he further explained. “As some of us are busy fighting doping in sports, some are busy researching how athletes can dope without being caught.
“The only advice is for athletes to keep off doping. Apart from the fact that doping is cheating, it is not good for the health of the athlete in the long run.
“It is possible that some athletes are banned for doping due to one reason or the other, not that they deliberately doped. Such athletes that have served their sentences can come back to represent the country in any category. Generally, athletes that are caught doping should not be seen as role models.
“We have an effective anti-doping structure in place with NADC, but there is a need for it to be upgraded to a full statutory body backed by law and with adequate funding.
“It is the duty of the body to educate, inform and put up necessary measures to help our athletes in ensuring a dope-free society,” he canvassed.