Chief Government Ekpemupolo is now a household name across Nigeria. The exploits of his security firm, Tantita Security Services have earned him friends, enemies and ‘haters’. They have also thrust him into the limelight and earned him a long list of awards. South-South Regional Manager, SHOLA O’NEIL reports on the latest award by the NUJ and what stakeholders think it means for him and the fight against illegal bunkering in the delta.
On Saturday, 3rd March, the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Dr Chris Isiguzo led a high-power team of the Nigeria Union of Journalists to the riverside Gbaramatu Kingdom of Warri Southwest Local Government Area of Delta State, in honour of the Chairman of Tantita Security Services Limited.
Isiguzo and his team were in the fast-growing Ijaw community to confer the man most people know as Tompolo with the NUJ Internal Security Meritorious Award. The award came on the heels of an avalanche of awards by the Daily Telegraph, Sun newspapers, Delta Online Publishers Forum and an honourary doctorate by the NIMASA Maritime University.
For the man who holds the traditional title of Ibe-Ebidouwei of Ijaw Nation, the harvest of awards is his vindication and reward for philanthropy, and a struggle against marginalisation, stigmatisation and years lived in solitude because of his convictions.
The reticent Ijaw leader strikes different chords with different people, various groups and interests across the land. From a man who was once declared Nigeria’s public enemy Number 1, he has defied the odds and turned into one of the most sought-after non-political figures in the land.
Many believe that he is a strong hand behind many crowns and thrones in the region, especially in Ijaw land. His fights against illegal bunkering and crude oil theft through TTSNL have helped burnish his reputation and marked him as a strong stakeholder with the capacity to handle security challenges in Delta.
In the political scene, Tompolo has become a force in the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the candidate of APC in the last presidential election, visited Oporoza, Ekpemupolo’s home base along with some top-level members of his party and the relationship has blossomed.
In his state, he has been active. He was heavily involved behind the scenes in the high-stake drama that led to Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, against all odds, clinching the PDP governorship ticket in 2015, and then going to win and completing the constitution-allowed two-term.
Any doubts about the role played by Tompolo in that high-tension political drama were erased by the emergence of the then-relatively unknown Deacon Kingsley Otuaro (his cousin) as the running mate and deputy to Senator Okowa during his eight-year tenure.
In his speech at the ceremony in Oporoza last Saturday, the NUJ President, Isiguzo, described the 52-year-old Ekpemupolo as “a distinguished Niger Delta and a general”.
“The NUJ has come to Oporoza to honour a distinguished son of the Niger Delta; a general in his own right, who has distinguished himself, ensures and maintains an appreciable level of internal security,” he said while commending Tompolo’s contribution to the security of oil and gas installations and national assets in the country.
He urged Nigerians to assist, not just Tompolo and Tantita, but security operatives, noting, “When you provide information, and intelligence to security operatives and agencies, you have contributed in some measures to reduce the problem of internal security of the land. It is a collective responsibility, and all hands must be on deck.”
The Zonal Secretary of the NUJ (Zone F), Mr John Angese, revealed in a chat with his colleagues that it was the first time that the NUJ Meritorious Award was bestowed on an individual. He expressed confidence that the gesture would motivate Tompolo to do more for his country and humanity.
In his response shortly after the presentation of the award, Chief Ekpemupolo reaffirmed his commitment towards efforts geared towards increasing Nigeria’s daily oil production through an intense crackdown on the activities of illegal gangs, whose activities have been heavily crippled by Tantita’s operations.
He said, “The only thing sustaining the country at the moment is oil and gas”.
He boasted of his stake and wholehearted belief in the Nigerian dream, revealing that he neither possesses an international passport nor does he harbour the desire to ‘japa’.
“This is the only place I can call my country (Nigeria). I will do everything possible with my people (Tantita) to ensure increased (crude oil) production.”
Ekpemupolo maintained that an increase in the country’s oil production was in the interest of every Nigerian, stressing that it would enable governments to pay salaries, including those of security operatives who are needed to maintain law and order as well as ensure the security of lives and property across the land, and to provide critical infrastructure for the benefit of all Nigerians.
Speaker Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Abraham Ngobere, while commending the contribution of Tompolo to the internal security in the creeks, appealed to the Federal Government to provide more support to the company to strengthen its fight against illegalities in the area.
“Today, you can travel anywhere in the creeks without any harassment because of the presence of personnel of Tantita on the ground,” Ngobere added.
The Bayelsa Speaker parroted the views of the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Upstream, Hon Alhassan Doguwa in February, when he led members of the committee inspection of the MT Kali and Harbourt Spirit, two suspected rogue vessels that were arrested by TSSNL.
Doguwa said, “We have seen how Tantita, under its Chief Executive, High Chief Ekpemupolo, has done well in contributing to the nation’s increased oil output by safeguarding the national assets in the creeks, thus making out life-wire (oil) more secured.”
Chief Macdonald Igbadiwei, the Prime Minister of Gbaraun Kingdom, in his remark at the ceremony, admonished the Federal Government to continue to back Tompolo and Tantita in the onerous task of eradicating illegal bunkering activities and bringing the culprits to book so “that Nigeria oil production would increase and help to mitigate the economic hardship Nigerians are facing.”
It would be recalled that the New Telegraph newspaper had earlier conferred the Security Company of the Year 2023 on TSSNL, while the Sun Newspaper also awarded him the Courage in Leadership Award.
Similarly, the Delta Online Publishers Forum inducted Ekpemupolo into its DOPF Hall of Fame. The Chairman, Board of Trustees of the forum, Chief Omafume Amurun, and chairman, Mr Emmanuel Enebeli, said the choice was overwhelmingly made by respondents to an online poll.
Chief Favour Izoukumor, a long-time associate and childhood friend expressed joy that the effort of Tompolo was being recognised from far and near. “The awards from reputable news media and the NUJ are vindication of his long-time struggle for the development of the Niger Delta. Through Tantita he has shown his commitment to growth, development to the peace of not just the Niger Delta, but Nigeria.”
“Over the years, swimming against the time of elaborate vendetta orchestrated by agents of darkness, he has excelled. This is a confirmation that the stone that the builders rejected has now become the chief cornerstone,” Izoukumor said.
Dr Paul Bebenimibo, who read his citation, said, “For some, he is the Niger Delta rights activist, who forced the hand of the federal government to a peace deal in 2007, to others, he is a successful businessman and philanthropist extraordinary.”
He said Tompolo’s activism resulted in huge political gains for the region: “the formation of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, the establishment of the NDDC. creation of the Social Economic Council for Coastal States of Nigeria, the establishment of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE), Ugbomro, Effurun and the Presidential Amnesty Program (PAP) he played a pivotal part in all of these.”
Dr Bebenimibo urged every stakeholder to support the effort being made by the Federal Government and its collaboration with Tantita to eradicate crude oil theft.(The Nation)
