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Title: | Piracy and Nigeria's national security in the early 21st century |
Author: | Chilaka, Edmund |
Year: | 2014 |
Periodical: | Lagos Historical Review (ISSN 1596-5031) |
Volume: | 14 |
Pages: | 55-76 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | piracy national security government policy |
Abstract: | Pirate attacks along Nigeria's inland waterways have increased since the end of the civil war in 1970. Advancements in boating technology and navigation, small arms availability and telecommunications have aided the sophistication of Nigerian pirates just as the calibre of culprits has grown from canoe operators and fishermen to include well connected drug runners, oil thieves and oil-pipeline vandals. Threats to Nigeria's national security are not only economic or socio-political but possibly even existential, since oil exports, which yield 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange earnings, and 65% of budgetary revenues are strongly resisted by the militants. Increased pirate attacks were deployed to back up agitations for resource control and political autonomy by Niger Delta activists. Despite the Government's antipiracy efforts and orchestrated collaborations between the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Navy, Nigeria witnessed a 'resource war'. This article examines the activities of pirates in Nigerian territorial waters and the extent to which they impose national security threats. The author finds that national security and the trend of piracy in the new millennium are likely to be moderated by improvements in law enforcement presence, firepower and the impact of corporate social responsibility by IOCs and associated stakeholders in the oil-rich delta region and the Lagos axis. Ref., sum. [Journal abstract, edited] |