Listening for Peace: Nigeria and the CTBTO

By Dr Uchenna Onwuhaka Madu & Ojinnaka, Chukwudi Afamefula Samuel (CASO)

In a world where the thunder of distant detonations can echo in living rooms thousands of miles away, one quiet but strong International Monitoring System (IMS) stands guard over our collective security. This network is hosted by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO). The CTBTO may not make headlines every day, but its work resonates powerfully in Nigeria’s journey toward scientific excellence and global responsibility.

The CTBTO was born from a single, profound idea: that humanity can and should halt all nuclear explosions everywhere. When the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) opened for signature in 1996, it promised a safer planet. Although the treaty itself awaits full entry into force, its technical arm took shape a year later in Vienna, and the Provisional Technical Secretariat is known today simply as the CTBTO. Its mission which is clear and unyielding, is to build and operate a global verification regime that will one day make nuclear tests impossible to hide.

This regime relies on a worldwide web of stations and laboratories. From seismic stations that “listen” for underground detonations to infrasound microphones floating on remote islands that "listen" for atmosphere detonations to hydroacoustic phones that "listen" for sea detonations to radionuclide laboratories capable of sniffing out telltale particles in the air, the IMS spans over 300 stations in more than 90 countries. The data from these stations are analysed by National Data Centres (NDC) hosted by State Parties to the CTBT. One of these NDCs sits quietly in the savanna near Abuja, precisely the Nuclear Technology Centre (NTC) in Sheda, which is one of the technology centres of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC).  This NDC has a global communication infrastructure which is used to receive information from the International Data Centre (IDC) that has a depository of the IMS data for experiments and research purposes. This gives Nigeria the opportunity to be part of a network dedicated to nuclear transparency.

The CTBTO leadership has guided this mission through turbulent geopolitical currents. Executive Secretary Dr Robert Floyd, an Australian safeguards expert, took the helm on 1 August 2021 succeeding Dr Lassina Zerbo. His steady hand has steered IMS expansion, forged partnerships with scientific bodies across Africa, and brought public awareness campaigns into capitals, from Banjul to Mogadishu and from Pretoria to Cairo. In July 2025, CTBTO Executive Secretary Dr Robert Floyd visited Abuja and the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC), underscoring Nigeria’s vital role in the IMS network and reaffirming the organisation’s commitment to capacity building and data sharing. The CTBTO often reminds its partners, and Nigeria is no exception, that by fulfilling its monitoring role, a country does more than safeguard its citizens; it reaffirms a global commitment to peace.

The CTBTO Technological Support and Training Centre (TeST Centre) is a central facility for equipment storage, maintenance, testing, training, and logistics that supports the build-up and readiness of the CTBT verification regime.

For Nigeria, the CTBTO’s presence has tangible benefits. Data from Sheda are fed into national disaster warning‑ systems, and seismic readings help map fault lines and guide safe construction standards. Infrasound monitoring contributes to the early detection of severe weather events, complementing meteorological forecasts. Training under the CTBTO’s capacity-building‑ programs has sent promising Nigerian experts to Europe and Asia, where they returned to lead projects in geophysics and environmental management.

Perhaps most importantly, Nigeria’s partnership with the CTBTO underscores a moral truth: that security today demands cooperation across borders. In a continent where energy needs press against environmental and safety concerns, Nigeria’s voice at the CTBT table carries weight. By helping to silence nuclear tests, we amplify our own call for the peaceful use of atom, whether it’s powering hospitals, improving farmland, or expanding industrial capacity.

As the sun sets over NDC Sheda and the IMS stations record another early evening, midnight and early morning events, we remember that peace is often kept not by armies but by attention: the global vigil of a treaty‑driven network and the dedication of every station operator, IDC and NDC analysts, student, and engineer. Nigeria’s stake in the CTBTO transcends technical compliance; it is a pledge that, in the face of the atom’s power, we choose to listen and live in peace.

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At Nigeria Atom Chronicles we will keep listening, reporting, and arguing for the kind of science that protects lives and livelihoods. If you value that work, read, share and join the conversation.