Nuclear materials, threat to international security – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has warned that trafficking in nuclear materials remains a potential threat to international peace and security. In his video message to the United Nations (UN) high-level meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons yesterday, Buhari reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

While calling for a total elimination of nuclear weapons, the Nigerian president voiced concern about the ‘‘ slow pace’’ of states possessing nuclear weapons in disarming and decommissioning their existing facilities.

“We are concerned about the slow pace of progress by nuclear weapon states to accomplish the total elimination of their arsenals, in accordance with their legal obligations and undertakings under Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),’’ President Buhari wrote in a statement issued by his spokesman, Femi Adesina.

Restating the need for the United Nations to continue engaging nuclear weapon states to speed up efforts at disarming and decommissioning their existing, he stated, ‘’ The best approach to avoid damage associated with nuclear materials, such as humanitarian crises, accidents, disasters and criminality, is the total elimination of nuclear weapons.’’

President Buhari told world leaders at the virtual summit that the universalisation of the NPT was dependent upon strict compliance with its three pillars, namely, disarmament, non-proliferation and peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The president implored other member states to ratify the treaty, and noted that Nigeria had played a major role in negotiations leading to the coming into force of the African Nuclear-WeaponFree-Zone Treaty (Pelindaba Treaty).

Buhari said it was noteworthy that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan that terminated the lives of thousands of people, with severe long-term damages to the environment.