A Fault Tolerant Design For Critical Infrastructure Protection In Nigeria: A Case Of Oil Pipelines In The Niger Delta Region

Since Oil was discovered at oloibiri in 1956, Nigeria as a nation has experienced significant growth in the oil and gas sector as it now accounts for more than 85% of the country‟s GDP. The growth of this sector with its commercial gains and importance has culminated in the rise of illegal activities by people who attempt to sabotage operations as in the care of militants, terrorists or bunkerers who intercept pipelines transporting the oil with the aim of siphoning for personal gain. This growing malaise has resulted in enormous financial losses to the government and environment concerns resulting from the attendant oil spillage. Effort made by the government has not yielded much success in curbing this ever-expanding malaise. This paper attempts to proffer a solution framework using emerging technological solutions by adopting a fault tolerant approach to remote monitoring of the pipeline network .A wired/wireless sensor network approach in proposed with suitable restructuring of the pipeline topology to support its implementation. The fault tolerant approach would also encompass human effort to ensure optimal delivering of service so as to aid security agents/monitoring groups to track, trace, apprehend and prosecute the culprits who perpetuate these acts.