Academic Paper from the year 2020 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: International relations, grade: A, language: English, abstract: Peace and security in Africa has been an issue of concern not only within the region but also for the international community because of the negative consequences of conflict in the continent since the 1960s. One of the threats to Africa's regional security is the proliferation of nuclear weapons. African states are not involved in nuclear proliferation as none of the 54 countries is a nuclear state. With the Pelindaba Treaty, Africa has washed its hands off proliferation of nuclear weapons and becomes a nuclear weapons free zone. However, Africa is infested with a plethora of security challenges including terrorism and insurgency, which could be compounded if the various terrorist and insurgent groups in the continent could get hold of nuclear weapon. The precarious state of regional security demands that Africa gets active in non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Using secondary data, the paper argued that non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is important for peace and security in Africa. It noted that the prospect for a nuclear war is higher in the world today than it has ever been and Africa stands to lose woefully in the advent of a nuclear war. The paper noted that Africa's security dilemma would be compounded by nuclear arms race. The paper recommends that African state should focus on addressing the security and humanitarian challenges exacerbated by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons as well as governance deficit. Additionally, African countries must support the UN the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty and finally, African countries need to rise up to the root causes of insecurity in the region by addressing poverty, youth bulge, unemployment, infrastructural deficit, ethno-religious rivalry, bad governance and corruption as well as drug and substance abuse. It is the submission of this
About the Author: Dr. Chinedu Simplicius Udeh was born on 03 March 1966 in South-East Nigeria. He holds BSc, MSc and Ph.D degrees in Political Science and International Relations from the Universities of Calabar, Lagos and Abuja Nigeria respectively. He is a Fellow of the defence college Nigeria, (fdc) (Course 20) and a Distinguished Fellow of the Defence College fdc(+). Dr. Udeh's professional qualifications include certificates in Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Centre, Ghana, Peace Support Operations for Senior Leaders and Defence and Security Management. He also holds certificate in Lessons Learned Course from the Centre for Army Lessons Learned, United States Army and certificate in Strategic Economic Needs and Security Exercise (SENSE), US Institute of Peace, Washington DC. Dr. Udeh worked as a Reporter with the defunct Sentinel Magazine, Kaduna and a Research Fellow at the International Training Institute of Peace. He is a Principal Research Fellow at the Centre for Strategic Research and Studies and a Directing Staff at the National Defence College, Nigeria. He is an ECOWAS Election Observer. Dr Udeh also a Senior Lecturer on part time basis in Department of Political Science & International Relations, Nile University of Nigeria Abuja and the National Open University. Dr. Udeh is currently working on publishing three books namely Proliferation of Small Arms and Security Challenges in Nigeria, Non- Military Dimensions of Security in Nigeria and Planning Implementation and National Development in Nigeria - A Reader. Dr Udeh has contributed chapters in books and journals covering issue areas such as peace, security and conflict resolution. He has participated in several national and international conferences. He is a member of some professional associations including the Nigerian Political Science Association, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Society for Peace Studies and Practice and Stabilisation and Peacebuilding Community of Practice (SP-CoP). Dr. Udeh has travelled a bit around Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East and North and South America. Dr. Chinedu S. Udeh's hobbies include evangelism, reading, travelling and listening to gospel music. He is also involved in some community and humanitarian services. He is married and blessed with four children.