PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday in Abuja formally inaugurated Nigeria’s Atomic Energy Commission, charging its members to quickly evolve implementable plans and time-lines for delivery of atomic energy for peaceful purposes in the country.The development came as Nigeria and the United States (U.S.) signed pact on shared disaster recovery services to ensure data security and reliability in Nigeria’s financial sector.
While inaugurating the atomic energy commission headed by Dr. Erepamo Osaisai, President Jonathan noted that generating power from atomic energy is very much part of the Federal Government’s long-term plans for ensuring steady power supply in the country.
He said his administration would therefore ensure that the commission receives adequate funding to carry out its task within the limits of available resources.
“We all know the importance of atomic energy. We have plans to generate power from atomic energy and we must pursue it seriously. But we need a very capable commission to facilitate and regulate our development and use of atomic energy for peace applications. I am very pleased, therefore, to inaugurate your commission today. We expect you to come up with time-lines for the delivery of atomic energy to our people and we will give you the resources you need to work. We are very hopeful that with the high calibre and credentials of members of the commission, our expectations will be realised,” Jonathan said.
The Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission was established by Act 46 of 1976 as a specialised agency for the promotion and development of nuclear technology. It was reactivated by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 2006 and its present members were appointed by President Jonathan earlier this year.
The commission’s mandate is to develop the frame-work and technical pathway to explore, exploit and harness atomic energy for peaceful application in all its ramifications for the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
Responding to the President’s remarks, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Osaisai, thanked him for appointing the members and formally inaugurating the commission, saying that it was an affirmation of the Jonathan administration’s commitment to the development of atomic energy in Nigeria.
Speaking at the signing of a $510,000 Technical Assistance Grant to Nigeria for the data recovery services yesterday in Abuja, the United States (U.S.) Ambassador to Nigeria, Terence McCulley, disclosed that the implementation of the Shared Disaster Recovery Centre (SDRC) would “improve data security and reliability in Nigeria’s financial sector, and ensure uninterrupted operation of Nigeria’s most important financial institutions in the event of a disaster.”
The American envoy, however, added that “this technical assistance would also create up to $17 million in business opportunities for U.S. exporters of hardware, networking equipment, software, consulting and integration services, fire suppression equipment and power systems.”
With yesterday’s joint signing of the enabling SDRC document with CBN Deputy Governor, Mr. Tunde Lemo, it is also expected that the USTDA’s support for the technical assistance will provide mutual economic benefit to Nigeria and the U.S., facilitate trade and strengthen the economies of both countries.
According to Ambassador McCulley, the joint intervention is to strengthen the CBN’s encouragement of Nigeria’s commercial banks “to find innovative ways to lower their cost of operations and thus their cost of lending, by sharing common services such as power and information technology.”
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