War in Middle East: Nexus between nuclear and world peace
On February 28, 2026, the USA and its ally, Israel, began the ongoing war in Iran, which has affected all countries of the Middle East and the global economy. Prior to this, there was a 12-day war involving the three actors in 2025. As we are made to believe, the reason behind these, is the […]
On February 28, 2026, the USA and its ally, Israel, began the ongoing war in Iran, which has affected all countries of the Middle East and the global economy. Prior to this, there was a 12-day war involving the three actors in 2025. As we are made to believe, the reason behind these, is the need to stop Iran from acquiring enough quantities of enriched uranium for fashioning out a nuclear bomb. During the 12-day war in 2025, the US President boasted that the Iranian enrichment facilities had been completely obliterated.
Let us examine the reasons for this war, beginning from the 16 July, 1945, the very first nuclear test in the world, christened the “Trinity Test” was in Alamogordo, New Mexico, USA. It was a precursor to the first and the only use of nuclear bombs in the world. During the World War II and because of the success of the firstt test, the USA issued an ultimatum to the Japanese to surrender on July 26, 1945 but they refused. As a result, on Monday, 06 August 1945, the first atomic bomb christened the “Little Boy”, which is a gun-type Uranium-235 fuel, was exploded on Hiroshima at about 8:15 a.m. This led to the death of about 80,000 people in less than five minutes. The “Mushroom Cloud” engulfed the city, and the people were exposed to radiation and skin burn. The second bomb, which was an implosion-type Plutonium-239 fuel, codenamed the “Fat Man,” was exploded on Nagasaki, Japan, on 09 August 1945 at about 11:02 a.m. The total casualty in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was over 200,000 deaths. The Japanese surrendered immediately, bringing an end to World War II. It will be recalled that the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) on the two cities in Japan was as a result of the bombing of Pearle Harbour, the US Naval base by Japan in December 1941.
Before then, in 1939, four leading nuclear physicists, Szillard, Wigner, Sachs, and Einstein had approached the then US President, Roosevelt on the possibility of an atomic bomb based on Uranium-235 fuel. Known as the Manhattan Project, it cost the US taxpayers approximately US$6 billion. Several nuclear scientists and engineers were involved and working secretly to develop and later fabricated the nuclear weapons that were detonated on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion, called thermonuclear weapon. The two reactions can release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. A nuclear device not larger than traditional bombs can devastate an entire city by blast, fire, and radiation.
The use and control of nuclear weapons have been a major focus of international relations policy since their debut in 1945. The desired outcomes in nuclear explosion may be tactical in nature, that is, limited to specific targets. Or it may be strategic in nature targetted at large scale destruction as witnessed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. As at the end of the “Cold War” available nuclear warheads with the two leading actors (i.e. US and Russia) are sufficient to wipe out the entire mankind.
In the five decades between that fateful day on July 16, 1945 and the opening, for signature of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996, over 2,000 nuclear tests have been carried out all over the world by “Big-5”, namely; USA, Russia, UK, France and China. It should be noted that the first test by France in 1960 in the Sahara Desert necessitated the establishment of the Federal Radiation Protection Service (FRPS) at the Department of Physics of the University of Ibadan (UI), to monitor its effects in Nigeria.
Even after the CTBT was opened for signature in September 1996, nine nuclear tests have been conducted by India, Pakistan, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Under the apartheid regime, South Africa, in 1976 signified its intention to conduct nuclear test and this prompted Nigeria under the then Head of State, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo to enact Decree 46 for the establishment of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) in 1976. Subsequently, two nuclear research centres were created, at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria – the Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT) and the sister institute at the Obafemi Awolowo Unversity, Ile-Ife – the Centre for Energy Research and Development (CERD)
In 1968, concerned by the threat posed by the escalation of nuclear testing around the world, the USA, USSR, UK, and 58 other countries signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear-Weapons, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Nigeria is a signatory to all treaties and additional protocols on the safe, secure, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including the NPT. The NPT defined nuclear-weapon states (NWS) as those countries that tested nuclear weapons before 1967 and all others as non-nuclear-weapon states (NNWS). The NPT prohibits NWS from transferring nuclear weapons and technologies to NNWS. Likewise, NNWS are obligated to refrain from acquiring nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. Although, NNWS have an inalienable right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. It is to be noted that each NNWS undertakes to accept ‘safeguards’ agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which serves as the ‘nuclear watchdog’ of the United Nations. Earlier on, December 8, 1953, the then US President, Dwight Eisenhower had proposed the “Atoms for Peace” programme to the UN General Assembly, which eventually led to the establishment of the IAEA in 1957. The IAEA monitors the “upstream” dimensions of nuclear weapons development through “safeguards”. Additionally, the CTBT monitors the nuclear tests around the globe with responsibility of taking care of the “downstream” that is to monitor the proof of a state’s intention to develop nuclear weapons and carry out the actual nuclear explosion. Other initiatives that are recognised by the UN General Assembly include the various Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zones (NWFZ). This is an agreement in which a group of states freely come together to establish treaty or convention, that bans the use, development, or deployment of nuclear weapons in their region. It also provides the mechanisms for verification and control, so as to enforce its obligations.
Africa is already a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone with the coming into force of the African Nuclear-Weapons Free Zone Treaty on July 15, 2009, also known as the ‘Pelindaba’ Treaty. In conformity with Article 12, the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE) was established to help member states in their non‐proliferation obligations and peaceful uses.
The crux of the matter in the Middle East now, is that the USA views Iran as a state with atomic bomb making capabilities because of the success of its enrichment programme that has produced over 400 kg of uranium enriched to 60 per cent. This is going beyond the control of the USA, so therefore, it will do everything to stop Iran’s enrichment programme from further progress. Countries like Israel, DPRK, Pakistan, and India in violation of the NPT, have developed nuclear weapons in addition to the “Big-5”. The NPT is discriminatory as it gives authority to only the “Big-5” to have nuclear weapons in their inventories and prevents all other countries from developing or acquiring nuclear bombs. As we can see, the nexus between nuclear weapons and security is that only ”Big-5” are the permanent members of the UN Security Council. So, the war currently going on Iran is an affirmation of the enforcement of the NPT statutes by one of the ”Big-5”, the USA.
This discourse cannot be completed without a mention of what Nigeria stands to benefit from the deployment of nuclear science and technology for socio-economic development of the country in the areas of power, health, agriculture etc. Even disregarding the nuclear renaissance in the world, but because of the acute power shortage in Nigeria, the nuclear option should be prominent in the nation’s energy-mix in the medium and long term timelines.
It is heartwarming to note that Nigeria has participated in the COP summits over the years.
In November 2024, at the COP 29, Nigeria and five other countries joined the global declaration to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050. Therefore, Nigeria must put in place necessary infrastructure to fulfill this obligation by leveraging on the opportunities provided by the IAEA. This will require the restructuring of the NAEC and other agencies of government responsible for the promotion and regulation of nuclear energy activities in Nigeria.
Jonah is a Professor of Nuclear Physics and a former Director, Centre for Energy Research and Training, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria