Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjoon Tuesday welcomed the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in his office, saying that the west African country is interested in atomic energy for peaceful uses, but she has no ambition to become a nuclear power.

"Our desire is to use all available sources of power for the improvement of the lives of Nigerians through the development of health facilities, effective and efficient water management, agriculture and other peaceful purposes," Obasanjo told Mohamed El-Baradei, who is in Nigeria on a two-day working visit.

The Nigerian government inaugurated its first nuclear research reactor located at the north-central city of Zaira in September last year and says that the facility, which is donated to Nigeria by the IAEA, is strictly for research in nuclear technology and "analytical services" to various sectors of the economy.

Obasanjo solicited for the assistance of the IAEA in identifying, locating, testing and checking radioactive materials,especially in view of the danger it posed when it found its way into wrong hands.

He also appealed to the UN agency to help the west African country to train its personnel in the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes.

Earlier, El-Baradei briefed Obasanjo on the role of the agency in world affairs, stating that 250 Nigerian scientists have so farbeen trained by the IAEA in the last five years and that the IAEA had three projects in the areas of health, agriculture and water management in Nigeria.

In February last year, there was nuclear mix-up as a statement from the Nigerian Defense Ministry said the country had discussed acquiring nuclear power from Pakistan. Nigeria later clarified thestatement issued after the visit of Pakistan's chairman of the Joint Services Committee, General Muhammad Aziz Khan, was a "typographical error" and should be ignored.

Source: Xinhua