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Anti-doping: Ministry’s Stricter Measures, Increased Testings Earn Nigeria AIU Commendation
The insistence of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development on stricter anti-doping measures and the increase in the number of testings by the National Anti-Doping Agency(NADA) has earned Nigeria the commendation of the Athletics Integrity Unit(AIU).
The Athletics Integrity Unit(AIU) is the special unit created by the international athletics body, World Athletics to oversee all issues relating to doping control among its members.
Nigeria is placed in Category A which is the lowest ranking of Federations and the athletes from countries in this category must have at least three(3)Out of Competition Testings(OCTs), each test three(3)weeks apart within the ten(10)months leading to a major International event like the Olympic Games and the World Championships.
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, ten out Nigeria’s twenty three athletes were barred from competing owing to their failure to meet this AIU requirement(Rule 15 of AIU framework)that came into force in January 2019.
However, all twenty five(25) Nigerian athletes registered for the ongoing 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, United States of America were cleared to participate having met the requirement.
Also, from a meagre twenty six(26) tests conducted on Nigerian athletes in 2021, one hundred and fifty seven(157)tests have already been done in 2022.
In commending Nigeria, David Howman, chairman of the AIU board said he was pleased to see significant improvements in the efforts to clean up the sport.
“I particularly commend the Nigerian team. It is amazing what can be achieved when the domestic authorities start taking anti doping seriously.
“While there have clearly been positive steps across the board, there are still many improvements to be made in the application of the rule and we will continue to work with the Category A Federations to do so,” he added.
Sports Minister Sunday Dare who has been the driving force in the push to improve Nigeria’s anti doping status and image says the AIU’s commendation is confirmation that the Ministry is doing something right.
“We cannot afford a repeat of the embarrassment we got in Tokyo where ten of our athletes were declared ineligible to compete on technical grounds as a result of the breach of the AIU rule. We had to be proactive and put stricter measures in place, not minding the attacks and snide comments from certain quarters.
“This commendation shows we are doing the right thing. It will spur us on to continue to do all we can to improve our anti doping status and image,” Dare said.
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Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold
Joel Ajayi
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Tuesday inaugurated the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector in Abuja, dismissing reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the US.
The inauguration followed the strategic cooperation framework established between Nigeria and the United States during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head PRESS and Public Relations Department Mrs. Kania Maliki Andeyaba stated that, Alake in the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed with the US is a government-to-government platform to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American investors and Nigerian local operators, not a sale of assets.
Harping on the importance of the solid minerals sector to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic diversification agenda, he noted that the administration was committed to reducing dependence on a mono-product economy through the sustainable development of Nigeria’s vast mineral resources.
According to him, the Nigeria–US partnership as a strategic initiative to attract investment, promote technology transfer, strengthen local mineral processing and create employment opportunities.
“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands,” Alake declared.
“We created a platform to facilitate mingling of US investment ventures with Nigeria’s local operators. It is in the public domain. We signed it in public and published it in four or five national newspapers.”
The Minister said reports claiming the US was coming to take over Nigeria’s minerals and security architecture were untrue at best and products of riotous imagination at worst.
Explaining the policy thrust, Alake said Africa has historically held the short end of the stick in global economic transactions, and Nigeria is determined to change that model.
“We have the resources, the critical elements the world needs to transit to clean energy. So we are creating a new paradigm — you bring your capital, expertise and technology, to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation . The investor gains, Nigeria gains.’’he said.
Nigeria, he stressed, had operated a mono-cultural economy dependent on oil, while solid minerals were exploited informally — with ores taken “from pit to port” without value addition.
Alake said government has now made local processing mandatory, refusing to grant mineral titles to investors without a clear pathway to processing in Nigeria.
He said the policy led to the springing up of processing factories, including the largest lithium processing plant in West Africa commissioned recently in Nasarawa by the Vice President, and informed the formation of the African Minerals Strategy Group.
Alake noted that investor confidence has returned due to macro-economic reforms by President Bola Tinubu that guarantee security of tenure and repatriation of profits.
He charged the committee to discharge its assignment responsibly, saying its work is strategic to achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy target.
To this end, he told the Committee to ensure effective coordination, identify investment opportunities and translate the framework into measurable outcomes capable of positioning Nigeria as a competitive player in the global solid minerals industry.
In his welcome address, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said the inauguration translates growing bilateral engagements into a structured framework for practical cooperation and investment mobilization
Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Jonathan Baas, said President Donald Trump has prioritized three areas for US embassies — energy, artificial intelligence/super intelligence, and critical minerals.
Baas said Washington’s direction is to work with partners to secure critical supply chains while ensuring partners capture value.
“We just signed a contract today on looking into building AI data centres in Nigeria at the Nigerian Economic Summit. That’s the direction Washington wants us to go,” he said.
In his vote of thanks, CEO/Managing Director of Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, NSMC said that the committee
is expected to coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards achieving the objectives of the Nigeria–US cooperation framework.
The inauguration reinforces the Federal Government’s commitment to repositioning the solid minerals sector as a key driver of economic diversification, industrial development and national prosperity under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
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