Nuclear Weapons Crisis

Should Africa have nuclear weapons? We 're the most vulnerable today. Aren't we?

We're not worth wasting nuclear weapons on yet.

Africa should as soon as is feasible develop her own millitary strength and acquire nuclear weapons. South Africa is one of the 9 nuclear super powers in the world thanks to its british ties.

Experience has shown that the world's super powers are not necessarily the super rich nations but those with nuclear arms (see Russia!)

North Korea can call the bluff of the US simply because they have nuclear arms. Africa will remain the butt of all jokes and foreign interference will remain a huge issue until we can stand on our own two feet. I once remember reading a rejoinder from a US citizen where he jokingly says: ", afterall it's not that we are afraid the africans will come and bomb us, "

Richer countries are busy squandering their wealth on an arms race that can only end in disaster. Let us spend our own limited resources in what will improve the lives of our people. This way we can bridge the gap.

Davidylan has said it all. We'll continue to be a laugthable continent if we are not able to defend ourselves.
South africa has nuclear capacities,but still those who control these capacities are white.
Conclusion : we are not safe at all.

Nwoke:

Richer countries are busy squandering their wealth on an arms race that can only end in disaster. Let us spend our own limited resources in what will improve the lives of our people. This way we can bridge the gap.

Squandering their wealth on arms race? Foul! You need to visit this countries to see what is meant by "squandering", the richer countries are wisely investing in arms BECAUSE in the long run it is those with the most sophisticated arms that hold the key to the world's major decisions. Why do you think they are building more arms? Russia is no way near an economic giant but they are easily the most poweful nation millitarily after the US, China, an emerging nuclear and eonomic giant is also begining to flex her muscles on the global stage. The reason why Iran has not yet been hit by sanctions is because the Russians and Chinese are against it. who would have thought China could call the bluff of the US 20 yrs ago?

As long as we stay there spending our "limited resources" (in our pockets of course!), we will NEVER bridge the gap! The rich countries will continue to dictate to us and we will remain in the cycle of poverty and the laughing stock of the entire world.

One last word, if we have been spending our limited resources and the rich countries have been squandering theirs on arms race, why are we still dependent on them for food aid, loans, financial aid, millitary aid?

It's because we have been buying their weapons and using them to kill our brothers.

So Nwoke , we should wait until we love each other before thinking about defending our continent?
Do you know how many americans die every year of gunshots?

Read this.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-06-06-crime-drop_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA

I think if everybody else is getting Nuclear weapons then we should as well. As soon as it is possible of course. After we have put food on our tables

The answer is no! in uppercase letters. You want one of our dictator leaders to eliminate a whole state in da twinkle of an eye. Nigeria isn't ready for nuclear weapons until our leaaders are more responsible.

Eastcoast:

The answer is no! in uppercase letters. You want one of our dictator leaders to eliminate a whole state in da twinkle of an eye. Nigeria isn't ready for nuclear weapons until our leaaders are more responsible.

So ALL AFRICAN nations have irresponsible leaders? No leader no matter how responsible will use nuclear weapons arbitrarily, sorry that's why we have the UN, NATO and other world bodies! If it was a matter of irresponsibility, the arab countries should have wiped us out ages ago!

Back to the issue of leaders, yes we have corrupt and irresponsible leaders but that is not a reason not to acquire nuclear arms. Nuclear arms has become a bargaining chip on the world stage today. When the US talks about the "international ommunity" they are mainly refering to countries with nuclear capability, it is time africa began to stake its own claim on the world stage!

sorry i thot the tittle said nigeria

even though we have UN,NATo and all that, our leaders will still disobey. Look at obasanjo and his 3rd term, hasn't he been warned against it by the US and other developed countries? yet he hasn't changed his decision.

And i suppose Nigeria is an asian country?

South Africa is already among the 9 nations with nuclear arms. Soonest Arab nations such as Egypt will follow suit.

Nigeria should and must strive to acquire nuclear arms.

Eastcoast:

even though we have UN,NATo and all that, our leaders would still disobey. Look at obasanjo and his 3rd term, hasn't he been warned against it by the US and other developed countries? yet he hasn't changed his decision.

Use of nuclear arms in war is VERY different from the third term issue! You don't just use nuclear arms as you wish. NO NATION has at yet used nuclear weapons in armed conflict the closest being during the cold war over 20-30 yrs ago.

I only used the third term issue to exemplify how our leaders don't obey the law. So just imagine them having nuclear weapons they will also use it whenever to their advantage regardless of the situation. Be it in tribalism anything. Look at the civil war in nigeria imagine the hatred of one tribe against another, many igbo people died of hunger etc, it was indirectly a genocide.

Eastcoast:

I only used the third term issue to exemplify how our leaders don't obey the law. So just imagine them having nuclear weapons they will also use it whenever to their advantage regardless of the situation. Be it in tribalism anything. Look at the civil war in nigeria imagine the hatred of one tribe against another, many igbo people died of hunger etc, it was indirectly a genocide.

It is completely impossible that should nigeria acquire nuclear arms, it will EVER be used in internal conflicts. Not even the USA would attempt to attack any nation so close to it due to its effects.

Please read this to understand the TRUE nature of nuclear weapons!

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/

Nuclear weapons are the most destructive technology ever developed,

of course i know about nuclear weapons. i have even watched the film of hiroshima and all that.

davidylan:

South Africa is already among the 9 nations with nuclear arms.

erm, RSA does not have nuclear weapons. They did have them, about a dozen warheads I think, but the program was scrapped and the NPT signed about 15 years ago.

The nine nuclear powers are
China
France
India
Israel - suspected, denied
North Korea - Claimed, unverified
Pakistan
Russia
UK
USA

@mochafella,

thanks for the correction. i just read about the scrapping of the weapons program by SA

NO NATION has at yet used nuclear weapons in armed conflict

Wrong. The United States used it twice - Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

My question is, what are we going to use it for? yes, we have issues of security, but we've not been successful with the aviation ministry, we want to add nuclear power to our woes? before we know it, we'll end up bombing ourselves, because of little know how. When Nigeria, and other poor African countries can handle other more pressing issues, then it'll be safe to get nuclear weapons. But till then, they should focus on reducing poverty, and end the genocide going on in Africa. Africa being what it is, bribery and corruption in high and low places, as a people we're not ready for it.

i'm of the same opinion as you dearzi

My sister, the very thought of Nuclear Weapons in Africa scares me. I fear that some ignorant person will go and detonate the thing , and we might be faced with an episode similar to the Lagos bomb last of 2001, or what year was that. Only in this case, it would affect the whole of Africa.

in order words, we wouldn't be able to maintain it.

dearzi:

My sister, the very thought of Nuclear Weapons in Africa scares me. I fear that some ignorant person will go and detonate the thing , and we might be faced with an episode similar to the Lagos bomb last of 2001, or what year was that. Only in this case, it would affect the whole of Africa.

Nuclear weapons are stored in missile bunkers or silos and not armories where conventional millitary hardware are stored so there is not the likelihood of a mistaken explosion.
The irresponsibility of african leaders not withstanding, it is sad that most africans portray their continent as one that is peopled and ruled by inferior humans who are not capable of handling anything of value. We are not so stupid as to mistakenly detonate nuclear weapons, we might not be so lucky to be ruled by responsible leaders but we can get things right if we try and not sit tight in the US ridiculing every attempt by Africans to progress!

Eastcoast:

in order words, we wouldn't be able to maintain it.

and why wouldn't we be able to maintain it? It's impossible to build nuclear weapons with all the facilities required and not be able to put up missile silos. Nuclear weapons are not the same as hand grenades that an be stored anywhere!
Pls! We've got incredible scientists who can put us on the nuclear map, it is all a matter of political will!

@Davidylan

This isn't a function of ridicule. Africans are brilliant--no doubt. But who's going to train them? as a people we've not proved we're capable of handling issues as major as this. We've not even fed our children! the people we want to protect are starving, the people to ensure the safety of these things are starving also. Regardless of wherever missiles or whatever are kept, we cannot gurantee that those things will be safe and will not become a problem on a larger scale--there aren't any guarantees. The leaders might even sell it as black market. Please, let's face where we are, and realistically so, that way we have a better grasp of things and know how to move from there. We're barely getting ourselves together and we want to take another major step. It's like the analogy of a baby just taking its first steps--yes, its walking, but give it more time before you expect it to start running all over the place.
Yes, it's a matter of "political will" that still needs time!

as a people we've not proved we're capable of handling issues as major as this

I might be African but i take exception to the sweeping generalisation that as a people WE HAVE NOT PROVEN CAPABLE OF HANDLING MAJOR ISSUES. This is the exact train of thought of most Americans and Europeans. We call it RACISM!
We are capable of doing ANYTHING we set our minds to doing, we have excellent minds and world renowned scientists working quietly in US and Europe if only our governments would get things right!

We've not even fed our children! the people we want to protect are starving, the people to ensure the safety of these things are starving also.

Thousands of africans sit back in the US and Europe and claim "we've not fed our children". Where are those trying to feed those children?

The leaders might even sell it as black market.

This is absolutely insane. How many countries producing nuclear weapons are selling it on the black market including Pakistan and India?
There are international guidelines that monitor the sale of Uranium alone not to talk of warheads. Who are we going to sell it to? Fellow African countries? and where would they get the money to buy it? And why are we yet to sell off all our other millitary hardware on the blackmarket?

It's like the analogy of a baby just taking its first steps--yes, its walking, but give it more time before you expect it to start running all over the place.

A baby(?) still crawling at 46 needs special prayers!

True we still have a long way to go but we won't get there by constantly putting our continent down. This is probably why nigerians at home resent nigerians based abroad so much. As soon as we leave the shores of nigeria, we suddenly start seeing imaginary faults and suddenly Africans become pple who can't get things right.
Europeans and Americans took centuries to get to where they are now. America's space program and nuclear weapons program was built mainly by german and russian scientists that moved to the US during and after world war II. Please research the manhattan project.

America of today is built on the sweat of thousands of immigrants, the Africans "not capable of handling major issues" played prominent roles. Obviously the likes of Prof Emeagwali are also not capable of handling major issues too. Maybe the only way to hande such major issues is to change your skin color!

davidylan:

Nuclear weapons are stored in missile bunkers or silos and not armories where conventional millitary hardware are stored so there is not the likelihood of a mistaken explosion.

um, the issue with missiles is not development/creation of the weapons. Its maintainance. You either have a solid or liquid missile propellant. With solid it has a lifespan after which it develops cracks and is dangerous. With liquid on the other hand you cannot keep the missiles permanently fueled, the liquids are extremely corrosive. Hence the possiblity for accidental spills and the like.

With the nuclear warheads however the problem is the propensity for accidents during creation, and we have a very bad emergency reaction procedure. Even in the US we had 3-mile island, and lets not forget Chernobyl. Granted these were civilian plants but it illustrates the danger with radioactive accidents.

davidylan:

It's impossible to build nuclear weapons with all the facilities required and not be able to put up missile silos.

Yes we have incredible scientists but you will not have scientists at every missile silo installation, and systems fail at the most inopportune moments. We all remember the Jesse fire disaster, and the explosions at the armoury in Lagos. Your argument make it seem as if these systems are inert druing creation and deployment. They are not, it simply takes a chemical imbalance or electronic failure to trigger a fatal chain reaction.

@Davidylan

I may be outside Nigeria, but i donate to feeding the poor, so i can boast that i'm doing something. There are charities that are trying to take care of these children, we have motherless babies homes, there are NGOs that genuinely look out for the interest of the poor.
Tell me what major achievements we've acheived in 46yrs. Ok, we just paid off our debts, oya, other things?? We have corrupt government constantly frauding and de-frauding. In 46yrs we've only gotten better in bad leadership--is that not a cry for help?

World renown scientists? who? LOL. unless i don't know them o! but last time i checked we didn't have any. If we have them, why are the science majors running out of Africa to get a better understanding of the field?

If other African nations can't afford to buy it, why should we be pace setters at owning nuclear weapons? we, like a lot of them, have more pressing issues also. I don't know the last time you were in Africa, but i can tell you that continent is currently not in need of weapons. They need health care programs for the poor, jobs, good water, electricity--should i go on?

Weather nuclear weapons are solid or liquid, that shouldn't be our major problem. We keep trying to measure up to the United States and co, how old is the US? she sure aint 46. How old is China? surely she's not 46 either! compared to these countries we're babies, and if we're not, i still stand by it that we've not proven to be otherwise.

Dearzi is asking what are we going to use NW for ? well,we're going to use them for the same reasons France, UK etc, are planning to use them.Period!

Why do europeans and their allies think they have the devine right to do whatever they want in Africa?
Had we had Nuclear weapons, those countries who become rich thanks to the slave trade would be talking about reparation today. They laugh in our face when we wonder why Germany is paying reparation to israel while nobody cares about what has been done to africa.