Shettima: Africa’s priority is fighting poverty, not testing nuclear weapons

Vice-President Kashim Shettima says Africa’s priority at the moment is to address challenges of poverty and climate change, not the pursuit of nuclear weapons capability.

Shettima spoke on Monday when he received Robert Floyd, the executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), who was on a courtesy visit to the State House in Abuja.

The CTBTO is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions.

Shettima allayed fears that Africa would be used for nuclear weapons testing.

“The outcome of any nuclear conflict is never a win-win situation; it is always the opposite,” he told the CTBTO executive secretary.

“We are fighting poverty; we are fighting a war against the relationship between the economy and ecology in sub-Saharan Africa. We have no business dabbling in anything that has to do with nuclear weapons.”

The vice-president said Nigeria remains committed to a comprehensive nuclear test ban and lauded the CTBTO’s efforts in detecting tsunamis and volcanic seismic activities.

“Your functions are contributing to the global stability of our ecology,” Shettima said.

Floyd applauded Nigeria’s leadership and its role in the attainment of the global average in the reduction of nuclear testing and establishment of strong norms against it.

Anthony Ekedegwa, acting chairman of the Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC); Yau Idris, director general of the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA); Dunoma Ahmed, permanent secretary in the ministry of foreign affairs; and Charles Oko, CTBTO’s senior external relations officer, were also present at the meeting.