October 17, (THEWILL) – The avowed determination of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to right the vessel of Sports governance in the country was given a boost in early October when THEWILL reported on that following its examination of the National Anti-Doping Committee’s (NADC) continuous monitoring programme, corrective action plan and efforts to resolve the same, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had signed off on all outstanding critical and high priority corrective actions required of Nigeria.
This most recent update, which demonstrated the herculean efforts to address the negligence of the past with a determination to keep to the standards expected for participation in clean competitions in the field of athletics, was relayed to Nigeria in two separate letters addressed to the NADC, dated August 2 and 4, 2021 and bearing the cheering news of reinstatement within the establishment of conforming and participating nations.
In the text of the first letter, WADA concluded that the NADC had taken steps to address critical concerns as was necessary for reinstatement. It read, in part, “Following the review of your continuous 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.”
The most significant portion of the update was contained in the second letter, which was specifically addressed to Dr Fadekemi Fadeyibi, the head of NADC. It also read, in part, “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.”
Although WADA restored Nigeria soon after acknowledging the initial steps taken by NADC, the implementation of these corrective activities was judged incomplete until WADA recently acknowledged that they had been carried out satisfactorily. Nigeria has, by implication, adequately remedied all of the non-conformities found with its national anti-doping programme and code compliance that led to the country’s delisting by WADA on December 6, 2018.
However, to completely appreciate the import of WADA’s update, it is important to query how Nigeria came to be designated a non-compliant code signatory.
WADA, the international independent agency established in 1999 and which is composed and funded equally by the sport movement and governments of the world, examined NADC’s national anti-doping programme of Sports governance in Nigeria in November 2018 and discovered inadequacies which were considered antithetical to the compliance standards. Immediately, it ordered the Nigerian NADC to take immediate corrective actions.
By December, WADA announced that the Nigerian NADC was officially non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code. It made this declaration following its meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan in December, where WADA’s Executive Committee (ExCo) agreed to follow the recommendation of the Agency’s independent Compliance Review Committee (CRC) to assert the Nigerian National Anti-Doping Committee as non-compliant with the Code due to outstanding non-conformities related to the implementation of its testing programme.
According to the Agency, under Article 10.3.1 of the International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories (ISCCS), the Nigerian National Anti-Doping Committee had 21 days following the date of receipt of the formal notice of non-compliance (14 November 2018) to dispute WADA’s assertion of non-compliance, as well as the proposed consequences and/or the reinstatement conditions proposed by the Agency.
However, because the Nigerian NADC did nothing of consequence to dispute WADA’s assertion of non-compliance nor the consequences of non-compliance and/or the reinstatement conditions proposed by WADA within 21 days from the date of the formal notice, the assertion of non-compliance was deemed admitted. By implication, the consequences of non-compliance and the reinstatement conditions proposed by WADA in the formal notice were also deemed accepted, and the formal notice in December of 2018 became a final decision.
The Nigeria NADC was therefore officially non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code.
In their meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, WADA’s exco decided that the consequences applied to the case, in accordance with Article 11 and Annex B.3.1 of the ISCCS, were as follows:
(a) The Nigerian NADC will lose its WADA privileges until reinstatement (according to ISCCS Art B.3.1(a)), meaning that in accordance with the relevant provisions of WADA’s statutes, the Nigerian NADC’s representatives shall be ineligible to hold any WADA office or any position as a member of any WADA board or committee or other body (including but not limited to membership of WADA’s Foundation Board, the Executive Committee, any standing committee and any other committee).
The Nigerian NADC shall be ineligible to host any event hosted or organised or co-hosted or co-organised by WADA. The Nigerian NADC Representatives shall be ineligible to participate in any WADA Independent Observer Program or WADA Outreach Program or other WADA activities. Worse still, part of the implications was that the Nigerian NADC shall not receive any WADA funding (either directly or indirectly) relating to the development of specific activities or participation in specific programs.
(b) All of the Nigerian NADC’s activities related to testing will be subject to Supervision by an Approved Third Party, at the NADC’s expense, including up to six site visits a year, with all costs to be paid in advance (where known) (according to ISCCS Art B.3.1 (b)).
(c) Should the outstanding requirements not be satisfied in full by May 2019, all of the Nigerian NADC’s activities related to testing will be subject to Takeover by an Approved Third Party, at the Nigerian NADC’s expense, including up to six site visits a year, with all costs to be paid in advance (where known) (following ISCCS Art B.3.1 (b)).
(d) The Nigerian NADC’s Representatives shall be ineligible to sit as members of the boards or committees or other bodies of any Signatory (or its members) or association of Signatories for a period of one year or until the Nigerian NADC is reinstated (whichever is longer) (according to ISCCS Art B.3.1 (c)).
The reinstatement by WADA was a demonstration of the Agency’s continued determination to provide guidance and support to the Nigerian NADC, as it promised to assist in the resolution of all aspects of the Nigerian NADC’s non-conformities. By stating in its letter reinstating the country as compliant with the World Anti-doping Code, that “your organisation has appropriately addressed all critical corrective actions,” WADA was acknowledging the work-in-progress nature of the process of bringing some standardisation to sports governance in Nigeria.
Already, the House of Representatives Committee on Sports has begun to exercise their own oversight responsibilities to address the non-eligibility of ten Nigerian athletes to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in July and August, which the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of World Athletics determined was necessary due to Nigeria’s non-compliance with the standard, minimum testing requirements, it is expected that legislative support for the process of righting the sports ship could not have come at a better time to end the embarrassment of Nigerian athletes being barred from competing in continental and global sports fiestas.
WADA’s reinstatement of Nigeria’s compliance carries the further implication that the anti-doping administration within Nigeria, when conjoined with the correct legislation and responsible sports governance, can compete with significant national anti-doping organisations (NADOs) that have consistently demonstrated stiff regulations in the African region, such as the South African and Kenyan NADOs, a fact reflected in the continued excellence of athletes from these nations in the athletics meets on the continent and beyond.
The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) will now have to ensure that a qualified Anti-doping Officer sees to it that this merited reinstatement from WADA remains within the positive bracket by establishing the maintenance of required standards with the assistance of a national Anti-doping Committee that will oversee Nigeria’s compliance with required standards further down the road to purposefully avoid any other WADA hammer in future.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
