FG rewards crimes by awarding contract to Tompolo N48bn – CNG spokesperson

Director, Strategic Communications, Coalition of Northern Groups, Samaila Musa, explains GODFREY GEORGE why the group opposes the 48 pipeline monitoring contract billion naira awarded by the Federal Government to former militant warlord, Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo

Coalition of Northern groups protest Federal Government decision to award N48 billion pipeline monitoring contract to ex-militant warlord Mr. Government Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo. Is it a matter of who got the contract or how much money was involved?

For us here, it's about the actual person. In Nigeria, we always hear colossal sums being allocated to fun things in the name of contracts. We are used to this. It has become a standard. It's more about the person. Some people are already looking at Tompolo now saying, "I think this guy is my role model." Now it's simple: make trouble for the state until you're recognized as a warlord, pretend you've repented, ask for a contract, and watch the rewards start rolling in.

We are talking about a contract where his income will be around 4 billion naira per month. It's a way of saying there's a reward to being a gangster! We're drifting as a nation, and that's one area we really need to check. If people are rewarded for this kind of deed, then one day we should know that it will boomerang in our face.

Tompolo is a former militant leader and the federal government granted amnesty to the militants. Don't you think it's wrong to see Tompolo through the prism of what happened in the past?

What we're saying is the government should be careful how they reward people like that. He was wanted by this government, according to him, for this contract, and he accepted it. He claimed that he did not request a renewal. Thus, the message is very audible for the deaf. He is someone whose activities are known all over the world. What does he mean by "repentant"? It's even funny that it's a contract renewal. That means he's been on government payroll all these years. It is unacceptable! What the government has done is revive our memories of the alleged crimes it committed. What point is the government trying to make? Is there no one who can keep these pipelines apart from Tompolo or what? What exactly are they trying to tell us? That's what we ask.

It now seems that state (security) officers are no longer effective. Whatever training Tompolo and his guys have received from any country, government troops should go for that training as well. Government staff should do the same job. That's like saying bandits should be asked to protect Nigeria since they are always kidnapping and collecting ransoms from people. Now these bandits are wanted. In 10 years, I would not be surprised if a government told Nigerians that they were looking for a bandit leader to award him a contract. What point are they doing? Young people watch this drama unfold. What do you think they should do? Who should they now take as a model? This is the problem. We have to be careful as a nation whenever we want to do that.

While the northern coalition opposed the Tompolo contract, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, on the other hand, supported it. Do you think the positions of the two groups are influenced by ethnicity?

The fact that this was turned into a tribal war is completely unnecessary. What we continue to do in this country is attack the messenger and reject the message. It won't help us. For every Nigerian qualified to get a government contract, no one is saying they shouldn't get it. But there are those who have "baggage" on them, who have been declared this or that in connection with delinquency. These people should be exempt. It's bad enough that all those cases with Tompolo died out because of the way the country is structured. We are a very forgetful people. Otherwise, someone like that should not even approach such a critical element of the national economy. When you start reminding people who Tompolo is by awarding this kind of contract, then there must be an outcry from people. It's the reward system that's actually the problem.

I didn't say someone from the North should go over there and get the Tompolo contract. No. Aren't there people in the Niger Delta region, who have lived according to the decorum of society and who have security teams who can do this job? When we talk about the protection of these pipelines, there are several problems. There are problems with security votes. The top reasons states get security votes are out of date most of the time. The signal from the Federal...