President Muhammadu Buhari will leave Abuja for Washington DC on Wednesday, to reaffirm Nigeria’s right to use nuclear energy for development.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said in a statement on Tuesday that the Commander-in-Chief would join President Barack Obama and about 60 other world leaders and heads of international organisations at the 4th Nuclear Security Summit which opens at the United States’ capital on Thursday.
At plenary sessions of the summit which is dedicated to reinforcing international commitment to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, President Buhari would insist that while Nigeria continues to sustain that commitment, world powers must respect the right of other countries to the peaceful use of nuclear energy for development purposes.
The President would also reaffirm Nigeria’s stance that international efforts to ensure greater security of nuclear materials should maintain a balance between nuclear non-proliferation obligations and the indisputable right of Nigeria and other countries to harness nuclear energy and technology for socio-economic development.
“It will be recalled that at a meeting with him in Abuja earlier this month, President Buhari told the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr Yukiya Amano, that the Federal Government will welcome greater support from the agency for Nigeria’s aspiration to begin the generation of electricity with nuclear energy.
“While in Washington DC for the Nuclear Security Summit, the President and his delegation which includes Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, the National Security Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno (rtd) and the Director-General of Nigeria’s Nuclear Regulatory Agency, Professor Lawrence Anikwe Dim, will also hold bilateral meetings with other participating Heads of Government and high-ranking United States Government officials,” according to the statement.