A Niger Delta environmental activist and community development expert, Comrade Alex Ekerebenah, has said the pipeline surveillance contract being executed by Tantita is no longer sustainable.
Ekerebenah, who spoke to journalists on Monday, was reacting to comments by
Comrade Preye Tambou, who warned against growing opposition to the renewal of Tantita’s pipeline surveillance contract.
Ekerebenah described the warning by Preye as a desperate attempt to advance a selfish interest against the collective yearning of the vast majority of Niger Delta people.
Ekerebenah said it is unfortunate that elements such as Preye Tambou will not relent in promoting causes that benefit only themselves.
He said no patriotic indigene of the Niger Delta will support the renewal of a contract that has no direct benefit to the majority of Niger Delta people.
“Only a few individuals have benefited from the millions of dollars contract that has ended in the pocket of a very few individuals, leaving the vast majority of the Niger Delta people in abject poverty.
“Somebody must remind Preye that we are no longer in the era when a few individuals will be throwing billions around while millions of our people struggle for one square meal per day,” Ekerebenah said.
Ekerebenah also insisted that it was time for President Bola Tinubu to review and correct the ambiguity and oversight committed by those who midwifed the Pipeline Surveillance Contract award to Tantita.
“The haste with which Timipreye Sylva awarded the contract without considering the yearnings of other states and locals is no longer sustainable under the inclusive democratic ideals of Mr. President,” Ekerebenah insisted.
The environmental activist dismissed claims that the opposition to the contract were ethnic based, insisting that it is in the best interest of the Niger Delta people and Nigeria that each of the oil producing states are empowered to handle the surveillance of pipelines within their domain.
According to him, using locals to protect the pipelines will yield more positive reward and engender a sense of belonging and ensure lasting peace in the region.
“What we are advocating for is a liberal system that supports indigenes from each of the oil producing states to protect and guard pipelines, oil exploration and installations within their states.
“The current method has not yielded the desired output as those entrusted with the bogus pipeline surveillance contracts failed to carry the locals along, fanning the embers of division and marginalization. True peace will only return when we carry the locals along and allow indigenes to participate in pipeline surveillance contracts within their states,” Ekerebenah insisted.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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