Nigeria, Iran to share nuclear technology (1)
Iran has announced its plans to share nuclear technology with Nigeria to help Africa's oil producer boost its electricity output.
Head of the Iranian delegation, Mohammed Ali Zeyghami said it was his country's right to share its nuclear know-how with Nigeria, saying it is crucial to develop clean energy as fossil fuels would disappear.
The agreement was announced after a four-day meeting between Iranian and Nigerian officials in Abuja.
However, international analysts have criticized agreement, saying a deal is one of Iran's stunts to expand its nuclear weapons production. Iran has refused to comply with repeated United Nations Security Council demands to halt nuclear enrichment, a process that can be used to produce fuel for nuclear weapons or nuclear energy.
Nigeria's 140 million populations have a woeful power supply record with only a few hours of state-provided electricity per day.
In order to successfully achieve the set objectives of the National Nuclear Power Programme (NNPP) of the federal government, atomic energy experts have called for the setting up of a Nuclear Academy in the country.
The proposed Nuclear Academy, according to the experts who rose from a recent national workshop organized by the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAERC), the project should be funded by the government in collaboration with industries and tertiary institutions.
The Managing Director of Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM Bank), Mr. Roberts Orya, has stressed the need for Nigeria to focus on the green economy and renewable energy in its bid to join global forces to save a world that is threatened by climate change and global warming.
Nuclear revolution held to safe energy
Describing NEXIM Bank as Nigeria's first 'green bank', Orya stated, "All prospective green economies of the world are reshaping and refocusing policies, investments and spending towards a range of sectors, such as clean technologies, renewable energies, green transportation, green buildings, waste management among others, our partnership with other stakeholders in Africa today is to support the effort to move Nigeria from its current status as a 'black economy' to a 'green economy".
He explained that "a 'black economy' is an economy that is still wholly dependent on fossil fuels, such as coal, petroleum and natural gas". But NEXIM Bank's present emphasis on the 'green economy' model will focus on reconfiguring business and infrastructure to deliver better returns on natural, human and economic capital investments, which will ultimately reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create less waste and reduce social disparities."
At the committee level, Nigeria also made an appreciable contribution. The African Group in the Security Committee of the General Assembly led by Nigeria demanded the ratification by member-States of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as a way of advancing the cause of the global war against the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
SOURCES:
http://allafrica.com/stories/201003010933.html
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/policy_politics/article01/indexn2_html?pdate=081109&ptitle=Nigeria At UN General Assembly: The Responsibilities, The Challenges
