A chieftain of the Ijaw Youths Council, Collins Eselemo has described the acceptance of the N4 billion monthly surveillance contract by Government Ekpemupolo as a deviation from the Niger Delta agitation.
Eselemo, the grand patron of the IYC Worldwide, stated this when he appeared on Arise TV’s Night Show.
Quizzed on why the contract has raised so much dust in the region, Eselemo said the move is not in line with the demands of the entire region.
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“It is a deviation from our own declaration. As far as the Niger Delta People are concerned, their world is a nonstarter. It is not only despotic, it is excruciating and a serious insult to the people of the Niger Delta.
“Will it not be better for the Federal Government to appropriate this N4 billion contract to crude oil allocation for the people of Niger Delta to apply themselves and make do with the modular refinery?
“The law does not stop the local or state government to run a refinery or own a petroleum and gas company.
“In other words, the country should consider the fact that the entire inhabitants of this little geographical region that expresses the wealth of this nation, is domiciled on a time bomb.
“One bullet on any of this gas installation, everybody in the Niger Delta will be history. We are not insured. We were dead before we were born. The ecology is gone, the environment is gone.
“Why I blame Tompolo, he has deviated from the declaration of all ethnic group from the Niger Delta. What we are asking is resource control, self determination and to clean up our environment. The Ogoni cleanup has not been done. Our environment is gone.
“And in this situation, in this predicament, somebody is awarding a contract to a victim of this nefarious activities from all these oil conglomerates?
“Come off this. This country, we need their sympathy to really survive. The award of N4 billion security contract to Tompolo to the Ijaw Nation, to the Itsekiri Nation and to the Urhobo Nation, we’ve considered it a non-starter, is dead on arrival and a serious insult to the dignity and reputation of the inhabitants of the Niger Delta region.
On the question of who the real oil thieves are in the country, Eselemo bluntly attributed it to the federal government.
“Who is stealing oil? The governor is stealing our oil. Is it my brother from my village that is stealing my oil? Is it somebody from Itsekiri that is stealing the oil? The government is responsible,” he added.
READ ALSO: FG Did Not Give Tompolo Surveillance Contract – NNPC
