This is a somewhat dated story.
IAEA gives Nigeria thumbs up
20/01/2005 23:32 - (SA)
Kano - International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohammed ElBaradei has inspected Nigeria's first nuclear reactor and given it a clean bill of health, the head of the facility said on Thursday.
Ibrahim Umar, director of the nuclear research project at Amadu Bello Univerity in Zaria, said following ElBaradei's visit on Wednesday that the UN agency had co-operated in the development in the test reactor and was content it met international safety standards.
"The IAEA, being the UN organ responsible for monitoring the application of nuclear technology throughout the world, has a mandate to conduct inspections on any nuclear facility," Umar told AFP in a telephone interview.
"Since the nuclear research centre was commissioned with technical co-operation from IAEA, the visit is to see how we are utilizing the facility which is exclusively for peaceful application purposes," he said...
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1649908,00.htmlFor those who do not know Dr. Mohammed ElBaradei, the Egyptian lawyer, winner of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, heads of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and is a tireless worker both for nuclear disarmament and the expansion of the use of nuclear power.
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2005/press.htmlIn his speeches, Dr. ElBaradei frequently refers to the need for nuclear power in impoverished nations, often citing the fact that the per capita power consumption in Nigeria is 8 watts per capita, less than the amount of energy that operates a baby's night light.
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2005/ebsp2005n004.htmlThis is an element of Dr. ElBaradei's recent speech at MIT, which can be viewed on line:
http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/300/Of course, Americans are
only interested in countries like Nigeria to the extent that they export oil. Nigeria is a major exporter of oil to the United States. Basically as long as the oil flows, we are indifferent to however many people are killed, tortured, mutilated, impoverished, raped and so on.
The tragic history of Nigeria has been marked by colonialism, colonial war, severe sectionalism, religious warfare, military dictatorship, civil war, ethnic war and genocide.
But it's OK. The oil flows with the wonderful help of the Shell Oil company, which has major concessions in Nigeria, and that's what's important, the oil. We don't care what happens that's connected with oil as long as we can still fill our tanks, even a multiple bucks per gallon.
All that said, the current President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, who once headed a Nigerian military junta, was the
first military dictator in African history, in 1979, to voluntarily surrender power to civilian rulers. Before surrendering rule, he instituted a constitution closely modeled on the now defunct constitution of the United States, which featured separation of power and declarations of human rights, including freedom of (and from) religion. After being imprisoned during
another military dictatorship for speaking out against human rights violations by military rulers, President Obasanjo was twice himself elected President of Nigeria after yet another restoration of civil rule. It is understood that the Presidency of Nigeria is a very difficult job, in part since the Government exists at the pleasure of oil company executives. Although tens of thousands of people died violent deaths during his rule in sectional strife, President Obasanjo's rule has been
relatively benign, at least by Nigerian standards. A recent effort to overturn Presidential term limits in Nigeria was defeated and President Obasanjo has announced his intention to leave office in 2007.
My personal less than completely informed opinion is that Obasanjo is a good guy. Maybe he isn't a statesman of the stature of the great Nelson Mandela, but the world is blessed with a Mandela only once or twice in a typical century and sometimes not at all.
Obasanjo has announced plans to week IAEA help to build two nuclear reactors in Nigeria, each at 1000MWe, to generate nuclear power. This would make Nigeria the second nation in sub-Saharan Africa to possess commercial power nuclear reactors. South Africa has two operating reactors and plans more than 20 additional reactors, most of the less than ideal Pebble Bed type. Obasanjo's decision speaks to his interest in the Nigerian
future. May he retire in peace.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/printable_information_papers/inf102print.htm