At last, Nigeria’s government has been handed a boost in crushing the threats, vandalism and conflicts plaguing the flashy Niger-Delta region for years resulting in monumental environmental and socio-economic crisis, in a new book presented to the public for the first time in the serene and sleepy Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
By Salihu Muhammed, reporting from Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The people of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State woke up casually on Saturday July 12, 2025, to be presented with a real opportunity at putting to rest the unending spectacle of insecurity surrounding oil pipeline operations, incessant bunkering and large scale artisanal mining which has resisted several interventions including the establishment of key Federal Institutions such as the Niger Delta Development Company(NDDC), the Nigeria Content Development Management Board(NCDMB), and not least the much celebrated Petroleum Industry Act, all of which has yielded little result.
This is notwithstanding the introduction of powerful measures, such as the establishment of Joint Military Task Forces and Pipeline surveillance agencies, to safeguard the entire depth of the region, not to mention the addition of stringent laws and extra-budgetary expenses to ensure maximum results.
Yet, instead of promising a future, the region appears to have sunk deeper into the morass of massive exploitation, political intrigues, profound communal agitations, environmental degradation, and stark poverty, resulting in an icy relationship between the Federal authorities, Oil companies, and the host communities themselves.
It remains a problematic topic to this day with stakeholders, political and social observers unable to proffer valid and feasible solution. Security agencies, community leaders and indigenous people found themselves at crossroads unable to halt the downward trend.
Thus the Niger-Delta which is supposed to be the Cash Cow and treasure throve of Federal Revenue like it is in other climes has inevitably beoame a shadow and a playground for the highest bidder, with profiteers racking in more than they can chew at the expense of the general public and helpless communities, despite being home to the largest deposit of untapped Gas potentials in Africa worth billions of dollars!
But thank goodness, all those avoidable headaches may well be in the past, in the future.
A prodigious pathway in reshaping the future is now on hand, unveiled in carefully moderated ceremony in faraway Yenagoa, Bayelsa State by the vibrant and active U.K based scholar Dr Abraham Abdul Jatto, an Etsako born Nigerian in his sparkling new book titled Onshore Oil and Gas Pipeline Infrastructure Insecurity dealing with vandalism, threats and conflicts in the Niger Delta and the Global South.
The iconic U.K.-based scholar took a dive into the past 50 years of oil exploration and exploitation in Nigeria and has produced a resounding panacea that is anything but unprecedented.
This is coming on the heels of months of studying similar cases spanning seven African and Asian nations to understand the root cause of the hydra-headed problems.
The prolific book was unveiled at the innocuous Azaiki Public Library in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State, and witnessed by a mammoth gathering of top government officials, captains of industry, traditional rulers, civil society organizations, and concerned stakeholders. Speaking to newsmen, Dr Jatto says, “I chose Bayelsa State to launch this book because here oil was first discovered in Oloibiri, and this is very significant”.
The book tackles holistically the problems experienced in the region using empirical and theoretical innovations rooted in direct field work with the host communities. ‘I spent several weeks in the creeks studying the phenomenon, assessing the affected areas personally and finally analyzing the results”, he says, stressing that his findings were indeed revealing.
The magnificent work of 409 pages comprising 8 chapters details comprehensive solutions to the monstrous illegal activities that pervade the region and proffers a classic solution to the frequent cases of vandalism, threats associated with oil and gas explorations.
Above all, the ghost of endemic and embarrassing situation whereby government doles out millions of dollars to individuals ostensibly to monitor pipeline vandalisation across the Niger-Delta may well be over; this is because Dr Abdul Jatto has invented an extra-ordinary mechanism, a cutting-edge technological APP called the AiiSecR capable of real-time processing of surveillance, reporting, quick responses and analysis of threats prevalent in the oil and gas facilities.
The digital tool will tackle organized crime in the Niger-Delta region, Nigeria, and the Global South! So, by implication, the era of frivolous spending in that sector by the Federal Government is over.
Indeed, the nation’s oil and gas sector is about to experience a boom and automatic facelift in all facets of life, including improved environmental surroundings.
Already, experts say this will give the Federal Government a breather of space to revolutionise the oil and gas pipeline infrastructure insecurity and the host communities. “Now, I feel a sense of relief and homecoming fulfilled to give to Ceaser what belongs to it”, he stated.
