TheCable

An unprecedented alliance in Nigeria has seen the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) agreeing to work together on the conduct of drug test for footballers in the country.

Without a doubt, the partnership has tapped on the plethora of successes achieved by the NDLEA since its incumbent Chairman, Brigadier General Muhammed Buba Marwa, assumed office in January 2021 – successes that the NPFL Chairman, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, has assessed as capable of playing a huge role in the anticipated successes of the league body.

It is trite, to be sure, that the anti-drug abuse agency under the leadership of Marwa has spared no efforts aimed at curbing the menace of substance abuse in Nigeria. It is just as well that the agency has garnered commensurate recognition for its efforts. Therefore, it is a welcome development that the NPFL has sought the latest partnership with a view to synergising efforts at sanitising the Nigerian football environment.

For Elegbeleye, the inspiring and impactful leadership that Marwa has brought to bear on the fight against drug abusers and their enablers has necessitated a synergy between both parties, especially at this time when the NPFL is carrying out series of innovation to upgrade the league to the desired standard. Certainly, ridding the league of drug cheats will be worth the while.

It is on the foregoing that Marwa and Elegbeleye met at the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja on March 8 to launch a two-prong approach to fighting drugs in sports, particularly football. “The only agency that can save this situation for Nigeria football is NDLEA by working with us to carry out random drug test on our players. Once the players know we conduct drug test, they will refrain from abuse of illicit substances,” the NPFL chairman said. To which the NDLEA chairman said: “Your request for random drug test for players is a welcome development for us. I wish to state that equipment for the test is available in all our commands nationwide and we are ready to collaborate and support you in your quest.”

Marwa however went a notch higher when he suggested that the NPFL should consider mobilising star footballers to get involved in open advocacy against drug abuse due to the fact that they are being treated as role models by lots of the youths that dominate the league and who look up to the stars as role models. Interestingly, the NPFL has already co-opted some former Nigeria internationals into its programmes that target at the youths in the league, as evident in the recent maiden NPFL-organised national under-17 finals in Benin City where the quartet of Austin Eguavoen, Pascal Patrick, Seyi Olofinjana and Yakubu Aiyegbeni mentored the youngsters for the one week that the competition lasted. The suggestion by Marwa can only lead to more big star footballers coming on board, particularly the reigning football stars that include Napoli and Atalanta players Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman respectively, among others.

Modalities for carrying out the drug tests on players are yet to be released, nonetheless. But the fact that all the parties involved are geared towards achieving a common purpose offers so much promise. The two-party agreement that has just been reached portends elevation for the Nigeria league, considering the pedigree that the NDLEA chairman has acquired for himself over the last three decades as the military attache at the Nigerian Mission in New York, military administrator of Borno and Lagos states, onward becoming an airline founder/CEO, a political aspirant and now as anti-drug czar. All this would leave no one in doubt that the war against drug cheats in Nigeria football is winnable.

That the NPFL delegation to the NDLEA headquarters that comprised the league administrators also included the duo of Nigeria ex-internationals Daniel Amokachi and Davidson Owumi is a manifestation of the NPFL’s resolve to make the system all-inclusive. What the future holds in stock can only be awaited.