ADDIS ABABA - Nigeria's Foreign Minister Oluyemi Adeniji on Wednesday appealed to African Union (AU) members to urgently ratify a long-delayed a treaty aiming to stop proliferation of nuclear weapons in the world.
"The African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty which was adopted in 1996, has not received the required number of ratification by member states to come into force," Adeniji, told a meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council.
"It is embarrassing that African states who should have been at the forefront to enforce the treaty have failed to ratify it." Only 20 of the 53-member states of the AU have deposited an instrument of ratification of the treaty, officials said.
It requires ratification by 28 member states to come into force. The treaty bans research into nuclear explosive devices, prohibits dumping of radioactive wastes and other radioactive mater anywhere within Africa. However, it supports the use of nuclear science and technology for peaceful means.
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