Within the decade of the 1970s when Nigeria's oi! was guihinc ;end Nigeria was
selling it at very high prices and, thus, reaping very huge profits. thE-c. was a loud cry
by academicians and ~ublicfu nctionaries for Nigeria to quire nuclear weapons.
There was no thorough study how other countries acquired the homh. Were nuclear
weapons a quired by a state once it had the money to do so or would it depend on its
industrial S evelopment and the possession of a scientific community? These were not
~nattersof concern for the advocates of nuclear acquisition. There only was an engagement
in glib talk about acquiring nuclear weapons. Although that debate is much more
muted toclay than it was before, due to the low returns from oil sales ;ind the high
degree of inflation in Nigeria as a result of ir, lurking behind the scene in the minds of
;icademicians and public functionaries ~hhaove spoken or written in favour of nuclear
acquisition is the thought that a Nigerian nuclear weapons programme will be directed
against South Africa. Such a notion sound5 very puerile 5ince Nigeria has not gone to
war with South Africa; the South Africans have heen engaged in steady destabilisation
of countries within its periphery while Nigerians sit aside chasing shadows of nuclear
weapons to counter South Africa. A Nigerian nuclcar weapons programme will not be
credibk since it most probably will not be acquired to be used and, even if acquired,
it will not have the delivery systems to make it of practical use