National Security and Maritime Piracy in Nigeria: A Sociological Discourse

Abstract

The inclusion of the Nigerian maritime environment in the piracy hotlist has attracted the interest of researchers, security stakeholders and policy makers into the impact of maritime piracy on the nation’s security. Therefore, this sociological discourse on national security and maritime piracy has been made, identifying the nature, impact and policy actions taken so far to curb the menace. The discourse, using secondary data from International Maritime Bureau (IMB) to show the severity and pattern of piracy in Nigeria waterways, and the tenets of the three capability gap thesis, found out that while corruption is the major cause of maritime piracy and insecurity in Nigeria, election malpractices specifically equips the pirates with arms directly or indirectly. The government policies and action, as well as the multinational companies’ ransom payments were found to have not been enough in solving the problems and recommendations were therefore made. It was therefore concluded among others that addressing the political interference in maritime security management and intelligence as well as building a strong synergy (among security agencies) could consolidated and enhance security management and intelligence gathering in Nigeria’s security sector.