By Saidu Abubakar
The attention of Management of Ahmadu Bello University has been drawn to an AI generated⁶ video widely circulating on the social media by unscrupulous persons. In the video, ABU was mentioned as the institution under which nuclear weapon/device was being developed for Nigeria.
According to a statement by Auwalu Umar, Director, Public Affairs Directorate, Office of the Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, other falsehood in the video was an allegation that “in the 1980s, Nigerian scientists were secretly enriching weapons grade uranium hidden deeply in a remote wilderness of Kaduna State.” It also alleged that “researchers at ABU had built sophisticated centrifuge obtained from the AQ Khan Network from Pakistan,” claiming that “by 1987, they were months away from the first nuclear device.”
It is pertinent for the University Management to debunk the assertions and put the facts straight, beginning with the history and evolution of Nigeria’s Nuclear Energy Programme, including contribution of Ahmadu Bello University to the programme, the statement noted.
In the 1980s, it said, a majority of the scientists at the Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT), Ahmadu Bello University were trainees in foreign institutions and were not back in the country until earlier 1990s. So, how could it have been possible for trainee scientists to enrich uranium?
Nigeria and, indeed, ABU have no connections with the AQ Khan Network from Pakistan let alone receiving equipment for the construction of a centrifuge.
By 1987, CERT had no any nuclear facility in operation apart from the 14 MeV Neutron Generator, which became operational only in 1988. The major nuclear project (i.e. NIRR-1) was initiated in 1996 under the IAEA Technical Cooperation programme that culminated into the commissioning of the first nuclear reactor in Nigeria in 2004.
It is on record that the test of an Atomic Bomb by France in the Sahara Desert in 1960 was the first activity that triggered the interest of the Federal Government in nuclear. The then Federal Government set up the Federal Radiation Protection Service (FRPS) in the Department of Physics, University of Ibadan, being the only one in the country. This was to monitor the adverse effect of the test on citizens and environment.
Nigeria joined the UN Nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1964, signifying its intention for peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology only.
Following the advancement and sophistications of nuclear weapons programme of South Africa, the Murtala-Obasanjo Regime in 1976 pronounced ABU, Zaria and OAU, Ile-Ife as two institutions to drive Nigeria’s nuclear programme, emphasizing peaceful uses in line with IAEA charter. Before then, Nigeria was one of the countries to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1968. All these are pointers to the desire of the country to peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
The statement further clarified that under the aegis of ABU Governing Council, the Centre for Energy Research and Training (ABU) was established by Statute 29 of Ahmadu Bello University Laws following the promulgation of Decree 46 of 1976, which established the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC).
CERT swung into action and eventually established modest nuclear facilities with collaboration of the IAEA and other international stakeholders from USA, Russia, China, etc. The 34 kW Nuclear Research Reactor, the Nigeria Research Reacor-1 (NIRR-1), is a notable facility acquired under a tripartite initiative between China, Nigeria and the IAEA in 2004. The reactor, which was running on weapons grade Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU), was converted to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) in line with Global Threat Reduction Initiatives (GTRI) in 2018.
“The foregoing activities were carried out with openness and participation of development partners, including the UN nuclear watchdog and others from the US. The current LEU core in the reactor was designed locally but it was manufactured in China. This underscores the fact that Nigeria does not own or operate a uranium enrichment or fuel fabrication plant, anywhere on its territory as alleged in the video.
“This is in line with the provisions of the NPT appended to by Nigeria in 1968, as well as Pelindaba Treaty, which came into force in 2009. These provisions bar Nigeria from developing nuclear weapons or receiving nuclear energy technologies, including the enrichment plant from countries like Pakistan that have well established nuclear weapons programme as stated in the video.
“Nigeria and ABU have always pursued peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology for the socio-economic development of the country. This was demonstrated by the founder of the University through the visit to the Museum of Atomic Energy at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US on 22nd July, 1960. This was even before he established the university in 1962. ABU established the Centre for Energy Research and Training to fulfill the dream of our founder through the provision of facilities and services for peaceful uses for the advancement of humanity,” the University further begrudged.
