Energy

19 June 2008
Posted to the web 19 June 2008

Iyobosa Uwugiaren
Abuja

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is exploring the possibility of acquiring, in the long-term, an electro-nuclear programme to meet the huge energy demands in the country.

The President's current thinking, according to a senior official in the presidency, would be taken care of in the holistic measures being designed to tackle energy crisis in the country. And France is expected to play a key role in the plans.

"In a joint communiqué adopted by President Yar'Adua and President Nicolas Sarkozy of French Republic, recently in France both of them agreed to strengthen cooperation in the energy, which is an area of priority for Nigeria," our source stated last night.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the cooperation between the two countries would take the form of an energy partnership, covering all the relevant sectors: electricity and nuclear energy.

According to the joint communiqué, France is disposed to give careful consideration to Nigeria's request in this area.

"Both sides decided to consider, with due respect to contractual international obligation, particularly within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the conditions for the implementation of such a project, notably with regard to safety," the presidency source added.

In economic matters, both sides also pledged to give priority, in the first instance, to seven sectors, which offer specific opportunities for developing fruitful and mutual cooperation, notably oil, gas and energy, transportation, security, agriculture, education and vocational training, infrastructure, and environment.

France is expected to examine the possibility of providing assistance in these areas where its companies have acquired internationally recognised expertise.

They also agreed to work jointly in the area of gas. "Concerning gas, Nigeria and France shall encourage the development of gas reserves in Nigeria for electricity generation, domestic market, liquefied natural gas, reduction of greenhouse gas emission and the search for better energy efficiency," our source said.

"In this regard, they propose to launch as soon as possible, new gas projects of interest to both countries and express their desire to support the early conclusion of an agreement on the launching of the Obite power generation station."

In the area of migration, our correspondent gathered that Nigeria and France recognised the need to improve the level of their cooperation. They proposed to commence negotiations on the conclusion of an agreement on the concerted management on migratory flow.

"This agreement is in conformity with the spirit of the Rabat and Tripoli conference and the forthcoming meeting in Paris, in the autumn, based on the ED-Africa Lisbon strategy, in particular in its article 69. The ultimate objective is to facilitate legal migration, combat illegal migration and ensure the conditions of a mutually beneficial co-development," LEADERSHIP gathered.

"In the area of defence, the French took note of Nigeria's request for equipment, communication divides and training for improvement of energy security in the Gulf of Guinea.

"France is determined to give favourable consideration to these requests, particularly the issue of training. To this effect, she is ready to send a short-term mission to assist the Nigerian navy build its capacity in maritime and river control and capability in sea interception."

Nuclear energy is not new to the nation. The quest for scientific breakthrough and the institutionalisation of scientific infrastructure in the field of nuclear technology yielded results on September 30, 2004, when the much-awaited Nigeria Nuclear Research Reactor, dubbed NNRR-1, was commissioned by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was represented by the then Science and Technology Minister, Professor Turner Isoun.

The march towards the development of nuclear technology in Nigeria started about 28 years ago when the then military regime promulgated the Atomic Energy Commission Decree in 1976 which, following a series of amendments, gave birth to the Energy Commission of Nigeria.

In line with international regulations, the Nigerian Nuclear Research Reactor is purely for peaceful application just as the Centre for Energy Research and Training, where the research reactor is located, had emphasised that it is aimed at the economic development of Nigeria in the areas of agriculture, solid minerals, health, water resources, environment, industry, education and training.

The government had said, "Acquire nuclear technology and all other technologies shall be added unto thee," to emphasise the importance Nigeria attached to the acquisition of nuclear technology.

It added, "owing to the human resources development programmes of the nuclear energy research centres, there exists an indigenous pool of nuclear scientists and engineers, which can form the initial critical mass of the professionals needed, to start and sustain a structured nuclear programme.

"With the reasons and purposes for which we intend to use our nuclear technology for, we hope nobody will seek to blackmail us that our reactor is for reasons other than these," the government had said.

The project is also very important to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) because of the strong ties it had developed with Nigeria over the years.