An initiative by the Muhammadu Buhari Administration to root out oil and gas pipeline vandalism by establishing a special task force against the menace is a step in the right direction. While the move is belated, it is coming in spite of a special military task force that has actually been in existence to counter the destructive activities of Niger Delta militants. The challenge facing the government is how to strategically re-invent the security architecture in protecting critical oil infrastructure, forging a permanent solution to the threat through military action and high-end technology.
In a no-nonsense homily he delivered during his state visit to China in April, the President literally threw down the gauntlet to pipeline vandals. “Those who are sensible should have learnt a lesson. Those who are mad, let them continue in their madness,” he said. “I’m aware that, in the last two weeks, the national grid collapsed a number of times. I hope this message will reach the vandals and saboteurs who are blowing up pipelines and installations. We will deal with them the way we dealt with Boko Haram.” This warning resonates with all segments of the hard-pressed Nigerian society.
The vandals have had the upper hand for too long, disrupting crude oil production, supply of crude to the refineries and gas to the thermal power stations. For the past two months, electricity supply has been virtually non-existent in several parts of the country. Therefore, Buhari should not stop at talking tough. Other past presidents did so too, but didn’t put anything concrete in place to realise their objective. Buhari should go the whole hog by implementing a bold security plan to force the militants to their knees. This is because, in spite of the President’s directive, tension heightened last week when militants from the Niger Delta Avengers blew up the Chevron Okan platform and the Shell/NNPC oil pipeline in Delta State. Shell, which had already lost 250,000 barrels per day production to the February attacks, declared another 90,000bpd loss. Reuters said the attacks had depressed Nigeria’s production to an all-time low of 22 years at 1.69 million bpd.
Militancy was initially anchored on the struggle for the control of oil resources by the oil-producing communities; but it has gone beyond that. It has drastically reduced crude oil and gas imports, which generate over 90 per cent of foreign exchange earnings. Yet, oil and gas assets are vital to our economy. And, without a tactical move against the vandals, the nation’s economy will remain in chaos. Sadly, the resurgence of vandalism coincides with a dip in revenue owing to the collapse of crude oil prices. In January, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation shut down two of its four refineries in Port Harcourt and Kaduna following the damage to the Bonny-Okrika and Escravos-Warri pipelines. The refineries had hitherto been producing 5.4 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit daily before then, supplementing importation.
In February, all the four refineries were totally shut down because vandals disrupted the Shell Forcados export terminal pipeline and the Lagos-Escravos pipeline again, throwing the nation into cyclical petrol shortages. Although the Transmission Company of Nigeria attained an all-time peak of 5,074 megawatts on February 2, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said that the nation lost 3,132MW shortly thereafter because the gas pipelines were vandalised. In September 2015, vandals slaughtered 10 State Security Service agents in Arepo, Ogun State, in their attempt to siphon petrol. No nation can develop this way.
The effect of vandalism on revenue has been colossal. It has badly hit the Federal Government’s 2016 crude oil production target of 2.2 million barrels per day. A report by the NNPC and the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative calculated that the economy lost N8.6 trillion between 2011 and 2015 to pipeline breaches. NNPC data said the nation lost N103.4 billion to pipeline repairs and management from January to December 2015, and N57.7 billion in crude oil losses. This is too much. Buhari must implement a security plan that will stop vandals and saboteurs as other countries with similar oil infrastructure are doing.
The United States has 2.22 million kilometres of underground oil pipeline system, according to the CIA World Factbook, far more comprehensive than Nigeria’s 12,714km. Although America’s network is owned by the private sector, the US government supports the companies by deploying its security forces, which monitor the system through patrols and aerial surveillance. In 2003, the George Bush administration committed resources, helicopters, intelligence-gathering and training of the Colombian military to protect an oil pipeline linking the two countries. We urge Buhari to move fast on this plan and save the economy from further losses.
Pipelines are difficult to protect and can be so easy to damage by determined vandals. To achieve its goal, the security intervention should be backed with the use of technology, as it is being done in America and other countries. According to Washington DC-based American Petroleum Institute, one of its most effective tools is “smart pig” technology. “The smart pig can detect corrosion, cracking or other defects to pipeline walls, and is used to plan preventive maintenance,” the API said. Buhari and Ibe Kachikwu, the Minister of Petroleum Resources (State), should combine this with a practical, sustained, all-out offensive against the militants.
The allegations that previous task forces were undermined because some military personnel sent there colluded with the militants to carry out oil theft should not be taken lightly. The President should conduct a comprehensive review of past operations ahead of empowering a new task force. This way, militancy can become a thing of the past, giving the economy the needed boost.
The NNPC should sensitise the Niger Delta communities against harbouring vandals and explore ways for them to play a role in pipeline protection by sharing intelligence with the security agencies.
