Dalong, appointed to his role back in November, was speaking during the NOC’s Annual General Meeting at the Yankari Games Resort and Safari.

He claimed more cooperation is needed in Nigeria to help combat the issue and believes educating the country's competitors on the dangers of drug abuse is a key tool in order to prevent them from doping.

Dalong, joined at the meeting by director general of the National Sports Commission Alhassan Yakmut, also recognised that the country has “had its fair share of athletes testing positive”.

One of the most notable cases came when 16-year-old weightlifter Chika Amalaha was stripped of her Commonwealth Games weightlifting gold medal at Glasgow 2014 for a positive test.

Amalaha had clinched the women’s 53 kilograms title with a combined total of 196kg.

Papua New Guinea’s Dika Toua was upgraded to gold following Amalaha’s nullified result, with Indian duo Santoshi Matsa and Swati Singh claiming silver and bronze.

Nigeria also remain one of the few countries to have athletes banned from competing at major events in certain sports because of a poor doping record.

In 2001, the International Weightlifting Federation suspended Nigeria for repeated doping offences, meaning lifters from the African country could not compete at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

“Nigeria as a big player in the international community should champion the fight against drug abuse, which is one of the three evils bedeviling our sports,” Dalong said.

“Nigeria has had its fair share of athletes testing positive to banned drugs and we should all join hands in the battle to eliminate drug abuse.”