Identifying the Immediate and Remote Causes of Pipeline Disasters in Nigeria

Abstract

Several occurrences of the transport system of the natural gold vandalisms in Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta part of Nigeria is so upfront and seem never-ending. However, this seemed also to be a result of many factors ranging from the unemployment of youths and the inadequate management and necessary government policies to be put in place to ensure guaranteed security. Past researchers have observed and given the fact that the major causes of this disaster are attached to a technical fault and some failures in aging, corrosion, and mechanical challenges like those welding effects. This research work examined immediate and remote causes of pipeline disasters considering the dimension of factors, the level of preparedness of people for the pipeline disasters, and the risk perception of people, the socioeconomic characteristics and the destruction of the pipelines. This study posted the analytically with the use of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and descriptive statistics. This analytical tool is regarded as a superior model of analysis because its purpose is to establish a figurable relationship between observed and unobserved variables. The study involved 300 respondents out of which 286 is regarded valid, which is way above 90% of the respondents who were selected within Nigeria using the multi-sampling method, and the method is the simple random method. The results from the study show the existence of a significant factor such as poverty, poor management of pipelines, political factors and all other factors treated in the study contribute to the pipeline disaster in Nigeria. Further, it was also observed that preparedness and risk perceptive factors also contribute to pipeline disaster in Nigeria. After all views and detailed explanations put to test by the respondents and researchers respectively; the result suggests that there should be a provision of employment for citizens, especially the active youths that could lead such vandalism. Also, it recommends that there should be a provision of social amenities and infrastructural facilities such as roads, electricity, pipe-borne water, and reduction in land devastation so as to reduce violence.