ABSTRACT
This research work examines the nexus between oil pipeline vandalism and national security in Nigeria. Comprehending national security in terms of sustainability development and livelihood, the paper seeks to establish the implications of oil pipeline vandalism for Nigeria’s national security. By way of descriptive analysis, predicated on empirical evidence, the paper posits that oil pipeline vandalism is a threat to Nigeria’s national security. In view of its adverse impacts as exemplified in loss of life, economic losses, environmental degradation, and pipeline explosions, the paper submits that oil pipeline vandalism portends serious danger for national sustainability of Nigeria.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The Nigerian petroleum industry has been confronted by two sapping challenges over the years. The challenges relates to the prevalence of militancy and oil pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta. While the former has significantly attenuated in the aftermath of the Amnesty deal in 2009 (Okoli, 2013), the latter appears to have escalated both in incidence and impact. According to Ogbeni:
A total of 16,083 pipeline breaks were recorded within the last 10 years adding that while 398 pipeline breaks representing 2.4 percent were due to ruptures, the activities of unpatriotic vandals accounted for 15, 685 breaks which translated to about 97.5 percent of the total number of cases (Ogbeni, 2012, para 8).
Indeed, the incidence of oil pipeline vandalism has been on the rise in Nigeria. According to the 2013 annual report of the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Nigeria lost a total of 10.9 billion US Dollars to oil theft between 2009 and 2011 (NEITI, 2013; Onoja, 2013). This loss adumbrates the significance of vandalism as a veritable problem in the Nigerian oil industry. The implication of oil pipeline vandalism vis-a-vis Nigeria’s security has been vividly demonstrated by its nexus with economic, environmental, and humanitarian losses and consequences (Onuoha, 2009). In effect, oil pipeline vandalism has been associated with consequences which hold negative implications for national issue of oil pipeline vandalism, in spite of its topical relevance, has not received adequate emphasis in the existing literature. Again, the bulk of the extant works in the area of inquiry has tended to be merely journalistic, bereft of analytical rigours and systematization. This has necessitated a systematic investigation into the problematique. This paper, therefore, an attempt is made to establish the relationship between oil pipeline vandalism and national security in Nigeria. The paper posits that oil pipeline vandalism results in untoward outcomes which threaten Nigeria’s national security.
The discovery of crude oil in commercial quantity in Oloibiri in 1956 marked the birth of the petroleum industry in Niger. Since then, the Nigeria economy has been more or less dependent on petroleum. To facilitate the distribution of crude oil product from the oil rich Nigeria Delta to other parts of the country, a network of oil pipelines was constructed to inter-link some states at strategic locations (Onuorah, 2007).
Nigeria has a total pipeline grid of 5001 kilometers. This consists of 4315 kilometers of multiproduct pipelines and 666 kilometers of crude oil pipelines. These pipelines transverse the country, forming a network that inter-connects the 22 petroleum storage depots, the four refineries at Port-Harcourt (I and II), Kaduna and Warri, the off-shore terminals at Bonny and, Escravos, and the jelties at Alas Cove,
Calabar, Okirika and Warri (Onuoha, 2007, p.6). This system of oil pipelines are used to transport crude oil to the refineries in Port-Harcourt (I and II), Warri and Kaduna, covering a total distance of 719 kilometres. The multi-product pipelines are used to transport products from the refineries/import receiving jetties to the 22 petroleum storage depots at various places in the country. The storage infrastructure consisting of 22 loading depots linked by pipeline of various diameters has aggregate installed capacities of 1,266890 (PMS), 676 400 (DPK), 1007 900 (AGO), and 74 000 (ATK) m3tonnes (Special Committee on the Review of Petroleum Product s Supply Distribution- SCRPPSD, 2000, p.10).
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH
The Nigerian oil Pipeline infrastructure has been subjected to incessant attacks by vandals over the years. The frequency of such attacks has been rather disturbing in the recent times. For instance, in 1999 alone, there were a total of 477 recorded cases of pipeline vandalization in Nigeria (see Tables 2 below).
The incessant occurrence of oil pipeline vandalism in Nigeria has raised the question as to whether the pipeline networks were laid in such a manner that forecloses easy vandalization. This is in addition to the question as to whether the pipelines are policed and protected at all. Indeed, some safety valves were considered while laying the pipelines. For instance, the government acquired 3.5 metres wide right of way (ROW) on each side of the pipelines; also the pipes were buried a miter deep to avoid accidental contacts, or vandalization. Despite these safety valves, recent experience in Nigeria has shown that the integrity and safety of these pipelines have been incessantly compromised because of the activities of vandals and saboteurs. The vandals fracture the oil pipelines with the criminal intent of obtaining and appropriating petroleum products for commercial purposes or personal use. The table below (Table 2) highlights the incidence of oil pipeline vandalization in Nigeria in 1990s.
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