Community Leader Cautions on Protest Against Tantita Security Services
A prominent community leader in the oil producing Ogulagha Kingdom of Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta state, Chief Larry Adanike, has cautioned Urhobo communities against what he described as sponsored protests against Tantita Security Services Limited.
Tantita Security Services Limited which plays a critical role in securing the nation’s pipelines is owned by High Chief Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo, an Ijaw from Delta State.
Adanike who made the appeal for caution in a statement noted that the same contract, part of which is being handled by Tantita Security Services, was previously managed by a stranger for eight years without protests.
Adanike stressed that even when there were rampant incidents of massive pipeline vandalization and its attendant effect on the environment of host communities, there were no such protests.
He recalled that before Tantita came on board, the nation’s daily oil production crashed to 650,000 barrels per day as companies could not pump crude oil from their flow stations because over 85 percent of products were lost to breaches on the pipelines by oil thieves.
Adanike stressed that it is inimical to the existing inter-ethnic harmony and unity that has been sustained in Delta state for platforms belonging to some ethnic groups to sponsor protests against Tantita’s operations in their communities because the firm belongs to an Ijaw man.
He said, “Today people are sponsoring Itsekiris to protest against the Ijaw man’s Company, asking for the withdrawal of Tantita Security Job which Tantita is executing very competently – such that we no longer have pipeline vandalization and oil theft , and our oil production has improved tremendously up to atleast 1.8m million barrels per day.
He emphasized that greed, envy, will not help the cause of unity amongst the tribes in Delta State.”
Adanike also listed the numerous major pipeline contracts being executed by companies belonging to other ethnic groups especially the Urhobos in Ijaw communities with no protests of disturbances.
He advised that targeting a company because it belongs to somebody from one ethnic group is a dangerous trend which would be counter productive.
“The Chairman of Tantita is an Ijaw Leader from both Gbaramatu and Ogulagha Kingdoms with massive assets helping the economy of Delta State and Nigeria.
“We have managed our unity and togetherness better than this. Who knows if after years , an Urhobo man will be given this work that Tantita Services is doing today? Will Ijaws now say that such Contractor (s) should not work in Ijaw areas too?
“This is a dangerous trend that the Urhobos are starting. It is better they have a rethink, before it will force Ijaws to react with tit-for-tat,” he cautioned.
NGO Canvasses Implementation of Sylva’s Gas Vision, Celebrates Ex-governor @ 61
A South South based Non Governmental Organization, Niger Delta Media Activists Group and Excellent Leadership Foundation” wants President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to implement the vision of former Minister of State (Petroleum Resources), Timipre Sylva for the nation to leverage on the abundant gas resources to attain economic development, industrialization and achieve renewable energy goals.
The organisation position was contained in a felicitation statement released by its National Coordinator, Chief Izzi Yakiah in Abuja to mark the 61st birthday anniversary of Chief Timipre Sylva.
Yakiah’s statement asserted that Sylva is the first politician in Nigeria that advocated for a gas based economy, adding that the former legislator is an accomplished politician whose intellect and innovative drive has enhanced the socio-economic standards in the stability of the Niger Delta region and the Nigeria State.
Appreciating Chief Timipre Sylva for his dexterity on the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and his sustained commitment to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the NGO likened Chief Sylva’s political philosophy of loyalty and focus to a democrat that believes in the new Nigeria project, adding that the celebrants role in the formative stage of the All Progressives Congress is historic.
Wishing Sylva, his beloved wife Alanyingi and their children years of sound health and prosperity, the release recalled the celebrant’s model of empowerment, capacity building of young people and his administrative prowess during the era of militancy in the Niger Delta, leading to consistent attack on critical national assets that laid the foundation for effective surveillance of oil and gas facilities in the creeks of the Niger Delta region, leading to the rise in daily oil production.
Commending Chief Sylva for his visionary leadership that has brought growth, stability and a sound administrative structure to the All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State, Yakiah said, Sylva is the face of opposition politics in the Ijaw homogenous State that uses his influence to facilitate strategic appointments for Ijaw people in the struggle when he served as Governor from 2007-2012 and Minister of Petroleum under President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Congratulating the erstwhile Chairman, Governing Council of the Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko Delta State for attaining the status of a sexagenarian in good health, the group praised Sylva’s spirit of tolerance, forgiveness in the face of political provocation, betrayal and back-stabbing since he assumed the position of the leader, APC Bayelsa Chapter.
Yakiah maintained that in the period of Sylva’s political adversity occasioned by negative emotion and deliberate sabotage of leadership of the Bayelsa APC, he has recorded credible results when he led the party to impressive elections in 2019 general elections, that produced Chief David Lyon as Governor elect, a Senator, two members of House of Representatives.
