German-based Nigerian graduate student Deacon Adebayo Anthony Kehinde has rallied students at the University of Liberia (UL), and the University at large, to join an international campaign to lobby the Government of Liberia to sign and ratify the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

During a visit to the University of Liberia Capitol Hill Thursday, May 4, 2023, Mr. Kehinde, Executive Officer of the CYM Education Foundation Germany, lectured UL students and urged them to campaign for their government to sign and ratify the treaty.

He explained that the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons is an international organization that brings together serious, passionate campaigners to ensure that the world does not experience another usage of nuclear weapons.

The Senior Campaigner for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said there are known organizations in Liberia that are part of this campaign.

In the campaign, he said they invite non-governmental organizations, universities, and some friendly governments.

Following more than ten years of lobbying, he said the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was officially ratified by the vast majority of the world’s countries on July 7, 2017.

When the Treaty was being ratified, he said Liberia was at the forefront of the 122 countries in the United Nations building that adopted the instrument.

“This Treaty forbids countries from creating, testing, producing, manufacturing, transferring, processing, storing, using or threatening to use Nuclear Weapons, or permit Nuclear Weapons to be stationed on their soil,” said Mr. Kehinde.

But he told the UL students that Liberia needs to get beyond this now by having the Government sign it.

He warned that if Nuclear Weapons are ever used on African soil, those that will be affected most are not citizens of the superpower countries that African countries are aligning with.

He noted that one of the poorest countries in the world, North Korea, invests almost half its resources in maintaining and sustaining its weapons, and has virtually one of the best factions of today’s nuclear weapons.

According to Kehinde, many countries that own these weapons argue that they are using them as a backup, but in reality, a better part of their resources goes to defence instead of education.

Using Liberia as an example, he urged students to check the budget for defence and the budget for education as he explains why the government should spend massively on education.

He vowed to continue to engage with stakeholders like the University of Liberia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of State, among others, to move the campaign forward.

In response, the President of the University of Liberia, Prof. Dr. Julius J.S. Nelson, Jr., thanked Mr. Kehinde for visiting the University, assuring him that all will be done to support the campaign..

Dr. Nelson expressed hope that after Kehinde’s studies in Germany, he would return to his motherland Nigeria, and Liberia.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (the intergovernmental body that provides oversight on this subject), the NPT aims to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and the underlying technology while promoting peaceful uses of nuclear energy.