DRUGS: Okagbare is in good company with Ajunwa, Onyali and others

Will any lesson be learned from Okagbare’s fall, probably yes but most probably no?

Feb 19, 2022 - 12:00 Updated: Feb 19, 2022 - 12:00

DRUGS: Okagbare is in good company with Ajunwa, Onyali and others

Okagbare-ban

By Olukayode Thomas

Friday, February 18, 2022, was a very sad day in the history of Nigerian sports, not just athletics.

It was the day our queen of sprints and jump Blessing Okagbare was revealed as a cheat.

While her ten years ban by the World Athletics Integrity Unit has effectively ended her athletics career as she cannot participate in any World Athletics organized or sanctioned competition until July 30, 2031, it also casts a big doubt on her past achievements as a sprinter and jumper.

From her National Championships medals, All African Games medals, to World Championships medals, to Olympic medal and her feats as a collegiate athlete, glowing performances in the World Athletics Diamond League and other competitions Okagbare has fallen from grace to grass from heroine to zero.

It’s indeed a very sad day for the athletics family, the sports family and indeed Nigeria.

Because of her global fame and Nigeria’s global reputation for fraud, the words out there are: ‘is she not a Nigerian, they always love to cheat’.

So the shame is not just on Okagbare but all of us especially other athletes from Nigeria and athletics reporters who will be ridiculed by their colleagues from other parts of the world during major games, championships and other competitions.

But will any lesson be learned from Okagbare’s fall, probably yes but most probably no.

Chioma Ajunwa, Mary Onyali are some of the high profile athletes from Nigeria that has been banned at one time or the other but that has not deterred the younger ones from romancing drugs.

As of today, three athletes are on trial in Nigeria for taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Many reasons have been adduced for our athletes’ romance with drugs.

Winning in athletics, especially at the global level is accompanied by loads of cash and fame and many athletes will do anything to achieve the two.

But besides fame and fortune, our sports administrators and media support drug cheats with appointments into exalted offices and positive coverage in the media which encourage young athletes instead of deterring them.

Take the case of Chioma Ajunwa as an example. Ajunwa was banned on the eve of the Barcelona’92 Olympic Games for using performance-enhancing drugs.

She returned after serving a four years ban in 1996 to win the long jump gold medal at Atlanta’96 but on the eve of the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games Ajunwa was banned for romance performance-enhancing drugs.

But today, Ajunwa is not just a member of the athletics family she is an official of the Olympian Association and a darling of the sporting press.

Find below a list of some of our athletes that has been banned for taking performance-enhancing drugs.