Re: Response To A Misguided Publication On Pipeline Surveillance Attributed To Fejiro Oliver -

By Uche Alvin

From: Concerned Nigerians for Good Governance

Re: Response to a Misguided Publication on Pipeline Surveillance Attributed to Fejiro Oliver

We read with concern a publication circulating on Punch Newspaper and other platforms, credited to one self-acclaimed “human rights activist,” Mr. Fejiro Oliver, calling for the fragmentation of pipeline surveillance under the guise of the Nigerian Local Content Act. The piece is not only conceptually flawed, it is dangerous to national security, economically reckless and legally misapplied.

Let us be clear from the outset, the argument collapses under scrutiny.

First, the Nigerian Local Content Act does not prescribe the balkanisation of security architecture. The Act promotes Nigerian participation in commercial oil and gas activities, procurement, services, fabrication, manpower development, not the ethnic carving up of critical national security functions. Pipeline surveillance is a security operation tied to intelligence, response time, coordination and deterrence. To weaponise the Local Content Act to demand ethnic control of security corridors is a gross misreading of the law.

Second, the suggestion that “every tribe should manage pipelines in their localities” is operationally illiterate. Pipelines do not respect ethnic boundaries. They traverse rivers, creeks, forests and inter-community corridors. Effective protection requires unity of command, shared intelligence, logistics and rapid response, not a patchwork of competing local fiefdoms. Fragmentation would reopen the very gaps criminals exploit.

Third, the publication conveniently ignores verifiable outcomes. Since the current surveillance framework was strengthened, crude oil output has rebounded, vandalism has dropped and waterways once notorious for armed robbery have become safer for residents and commerce. These are not opinions, they are reflected in production data, security reports and lived community experience. Reform should build on results, not tear them down with rhetoric.

Fourth, the article relies on emotion over evidence. There is no audit trail, no operational analysis, no security assessment, only slogans. Serious policy debate demands facts, performance benchmarks, response metrics, community employment figures and oversight mechanisms. Anything less is noise masquerading as advocacy.

Fifth, inclusion is not achieved by destruction. If the concern is community participation, the solution is enforceable local hiring quotas, transparent procurement, skills training, periodic audits and sanctions for non-compliance, all within a coordinated security framework. That is reform. What is being proposed instead is chaos.

Finally, we must state this plainly, Nigeria’s energy security is not a playground for personal crusades. The Niger Delta has paid too high a price in blood, lost revenue and environmental damage to return to an era of disjointed control and opportunistic agitation.

We commend the men and women currently engaged in pipeline surveillance for the measurable improvements recorded. Where there are gaps, fix them with data-driven reforms. Where there is abuse, punish it through law. But do not sell the public a false cure that would worsen the disease.

The Niger Delta needs accountable systems, not incendiary proposals. Nigeria needs security that works, not experiments dressed up as activism.

Signed:

Awipi Lawson,

National Coordinator, Concerned Nigerians for Good Governance

Cc:

The Presidency

National Assembly (Committees on Petroleum & National Security)

Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.)

Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC)

Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB)

Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA)

Nigerian Navy