Ex-militant Tompolo Buys A Private Jet




For those who haven’t heard, 43 year old ex-militant, High Chief Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo) on Monday 26th August 2013 received his LearJet 60SE produced by Canadian aerospace company Bombardier. The Jet according to aviation sources cost a whopping sum of $13.3 million (N2.12 billion).

The aim of this article is not to rubbish the person of Tompolo, [what is there to rubbish anyway] but to address inter alia; the scenarios that continue to play out in favour of his ilk, institutions and systems that perpetually endeavour to make his likes overnight celebrities. I would also analyse the opportunity cost of his latest toy.


The Man Tompolo
Tompolo was born Government Oweizide Ekpumopolo in 1970  into the family of Chief Thomas Osei Ekpempulo and Mrs Sologha Ekpemupol of Okorenkoko in Gbaramatu kingdom in Warri South-West Local Government Area of present Delta State. He attended Edah Primary School, Madagho and Kunpa Primary School, Kunukunuma before later proceeding to National Comprehensive College, Warri where he completed the SSCE in 1993.

After a brief stint as Managing Director of his father's family business, Tompolo Nigeria Limited, his militancy career began in 1997, during the struggle to ‘liberate’ the Ijaws from the dominance of its neighbours -- the Itsekiris. General Sani Abacha had then relocated Warri South Local Government headquarters from Ogbe-Ijoh to Itsekiri’s Ogidiben and thus, an Ijaw ‘Soldier’ was born.

After the struggle, he relocated to Oporoza due to threats to his life and there, he started the struggle against the oil majors and the federal government for what he perceived as injustice against ‘their land’–usually the rhetoric for Niger Delta militants.

True to his name, Government Ekpumopolo was an authority of some sort. Traditional rulers, local council men, lawmakers, governors differ to him. To show the power Tompolo wields, during the visit of then Vice President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to his terrorist headquarters at the notorious Camp 5, he instructed all the Vice President’s entourage, security details, and other officials to stay outside the camp, allowing only Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in for ‘consultation’ (I wonder what they must have agreed in secret).

He led several ‘successful’ guerrilla attacks against Shell, almost crippling their production capacity in the Niger Delta. The company had no choice but to start paying some sort of ‘security fees’ to the warlord.

Tompolo started consulting in security matters for the oil companies, the Federal Government and the Joint Task Force to maintain some level of peace. Things got out of hand after his men beheaded 11 military men comprising of 1 officer and 10 rank and file of the Nigerian Army. That development forced the Chairman of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, Brig. Gen. Sarkin Yaki Bello to declare him wanted, dead or alive.

His Entrance Into The Nigerian Billionaires Club
When the late President Musa Yar'adua took oath of Office in May 2007, he promised to bring an end to the Niger Delta insurgency, offering them a state pardon for all their criminal atrocities.

In June 2009 when the implementation of the amnesty programme started, thousands of youth surrendered their arms and ammunitions, with a report stating that Tompolo along with 1,500 militants handed in a cache of weapons that included general purpose machine guns, grenades, rocket propelled grenade launchers, explosives and a large number of assorted weapons.

Unfortunately, President Yar’adua who originated the idea died of some ailment and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the Vice President as it then was, took the reins of power.

In what seemed like an opportunity-comes-but-once-so-lets-seize-it-and-settle-the-boys-bigtime-kind-of-contract, the Goodluck administration through NIMASA, headed by Ziadeke Akpobolokemi (said to be Tompolo’s candidate for the NIMASA job), awarded a contract worth $103.4million (N15billion) maritime surveillance contract to Tompolo’s company--Global West Vessel Specialist Limited (GWVSL). The contract stated that GWVSL will provide security for oil pipelines, repel pirates and oil thieves, guard the nation waterways and also (wait for this), COLLECT LEVIES ON BEHALF OF NIMASA. The agency said about N124billion is expected to be generated by GWVSL for the federal government.

In a memo dated 9 November, 2011 with reference number PRES/99/MT/61 and titled Award Of Contract For The Strategic Concessioning Partnership With NIMASA To Provide Platforms For Tracking Ships And Cargoes, Enforce Regulatory Compliance And Surveillance Of The Entire Nigerian Maritime Domain, President Jonathan approved the contract and it was rubber stamped by the Federal Executive council in one of its weekly contract awarding bazaars on 5 January, 2012.

The contract will run for 10 years, though President Jonathan through NIMASA has promised not to renew the contract after the expiration of its present term. But to show how desperate Jonathan was in securing the contract for his friend and personal confidant – Tompolo – he wrote to the National Assembly, withdrawing an earlier similar proposal submitted by his predecessor which sought to create a coast guard comprising of all the security agencies to man the country’s maritime domain. But why should he not, when NIMASA presently pays Tompolo’s GWVSL N49m weekly for vessel hired by the agency?

The Nigerian Debacle
We have heard over and over how the Nigerian system rewards honest labour with hardship and award criminal endeavours with the juicy contracts and patronage which only feather the nest of cronies.

Fellow militants who didn’t labour (killed) as much as Tompolo weren’t rewarded as much. I pity men of the Nigerian Military who daily sacrifice their lives for nothing. I hope Abubakar Shekau will not be given the same ‘heroic’ welcome whenever he leads his comrades-at-arms to accept the amnesty proposals of the Jonathan-administration.

Nigerians must realize that voting for Jonathan come 2015 is a vote for more money in the hands of those who have wronged and robbed Nigerians of our God-given resources.

Despite the huge amount being paid to Tompolo, Nigeria’s Maritime Domain has been less secure. Crude oil theft has reached an all-time high, threatening Nigeria’s income. Coordinating minister of the economy last July, lamented the alarming rate at which Nigeria’s income from oil was being depleted due to oil theft and bunkering. Tompolo’s militant colleague, Asari Dokubo has threatened to destroy Nigeria and march his opponents’ bullet for bullet, bomb for bomb, and missile for missile if Dr. Goodluck Jonathan isn’t re-elected in 2015, because only his stay in office will guarantee Tompolo's business which will in turn guarantee continued oil bunkering and theft in the Niger-Delta.

This is the right time to revoke the Tompolo’s contract. Only a fool employs a man with a history of dubious character (though forgiven) into a position of trust, he will always stay true to who he is.

The Opportunity Cost Of Bombardier 60SE Learjet
Economist define opportunity cost as the alternative forgone. It is the cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action. Put another way, it is the benefit you could have received by taking an alternative action. In layman’s terms, opportunity cost is the other product that would rather have satisfied your want.

An Example: If you need a Plasma Television and an iphone; and you divert your limited resources to purchase the iphone, the opportunity cost (i.e. what it is costing you) is a Plasma Television set.
Investopedia cites this vivid example: if a gardener decides to grow carrots, his or her opportunity cost is the alternative crop that might have been grown instead (potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins, etc.).
In both cases, a choice between two options must be made.

A LearJet 60SE cost $13.3 million (N2.12 billion), a N2.12 billion we could have invested into other productive ventures had the contract not been awarded to Tompolo in the first instant.
The opportunity cost of Tompolo's private Jet are enormous, I have defined what opportunity cost is, please fill up the comment section with your suggestions of public goods we could have purchased with our collective N2.12 billion in the hands of an ex-militant.

(Sahara Repoters)
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  1. GEJ is d worst president Nigeria ever had.

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  2. He worked for it....and should enjoy it.

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  3. Gej is a clueless president his weakness is responsible for this bizzare criminality and impunity. Hmmmmmm

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  4. Oh! My God.....waste! Waste!! Wasted!!!Nigerian money...

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  5. And Gej cant settle ASUU what they agreed in 2009...instead they r killin d education sector.
    That IDIOT of a Minister (Maku)..has d guts to say if they settle ASUU the economy will b crippled.
    ..come 2015 GEJ has to go....Asari Dokubo is jst a BIG FOOL that has his sense in his slippers..he thinks he can play God..He can die bfor 2015.

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  6. It pays to be a criminal in Nigeria. #don'tdull#

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  7. crime is now celebrated in nigeria,what a shame

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  8. The essence of acquiring this jet is to aid importation of arms and ammunition for GEJ by these militants in order to cause chaos come 2015 if GEJ is drop as presidential cand or lose the election. Can't you listen to some of statement made by Radical Asari Dokubo? Mtcheeeeeeeew.

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  9. Imagine a whole president doing business with a thief and murderer, what a country.y should they even grant amnesty to the ex-millitant in the first place? Y is GEJ always interested in granting amnesty to thiefs murderers of innocent souls, etc. Y mr GEJ

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  10. I just d pass-o. Kikiki!
    Umoh.

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  11. Mmmmmmh!! A story!! Well sahara pple u said it all but this is just a tip of iceberg! His secret came out cz of this private jet thou we knew his secrets to wealth before but there are still many others that had benefited from this corrupt gvt that stashed their cash somewhere n kept looking. Asari!!! Hmmm!!! Well its only in a country like ours that can house that fool. Noting to say cz it won't stop! This looting will continue whether the masses like it or not but there is a solution REVOLUTION!! Though its not the best but its seems a gud option now, no wonder they could not pay ASUU!! As for me I think its better to fight n die for the future of my kids than to stay n be quiet(suffering/smiling). What is life if u can't enjoy or benefit from it?

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  12. Crime pays in Nigeria. What a zoo!

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  13. If asari dokubo is luking 4 bloodshed or war, he should go and help Nigeria fight and end boko haram.

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  14. May the private jet crash with Tompolo inside!

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  15. SAHARA REPORTERS,,, A NORTHERN MEDIA,,,HAVE THEY EVER REPORT ON THE EVIL OF BOKO HARAM AND THEIR SPONSORS ??????????????????

    HOW DID NORTHERNERS MANAGE TO OWN OVER 83 PERCENT OIL WELL ?????????????? THE BITTER TRUTH IS THIS NATION CAN NO LONGER STAND.

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    1. Its obvious ds compound fool Emex doesn't read social media. Pls go get urself correct smartphone n subscribe to sahara reporters weebsite n nt NE, where dy dnt get first hand news, only news culled frm other outlets. Mumu tout!!!

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  16. professors, PhDs, masters degrees are suffering in Nigeria,while thugs, militants, touts, are enjoying the wealth of the nation. maybe all Nigerians youth are to form militant group for us to have our own share of the national milk. Gej is a failure. during OBJ tenure Asari was cooling his head in prison. why not sent these tout to where they truly belong rather than enrich them over night. we are watching

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  17. My brother your account of the events of this man called Tompolo will not be complete if you don not tell us how other Nigerians made their own money to buy their own private jets .

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  18. Jonathan is a criminal.

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  19. Its Tompolo's time. Sahara Reporter wait for yOur time. Make una also talk of Boko Haram & BuharI

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  20. To tell u how dull d Tompolo is, he wrote (nt pass) WAEC at 23. Which idiot takes 20 yrs to finish secondary level education?!

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  21. Have U guys considered d opportunity cost of not engaging these guys?

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  22. Have U guys considered the opportunity cost to the military, government n the economy the opportunity cost of not engaging these guys.

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  23. goodluck or not, the same amount of thuggery will still happen, either its from the north, or south as it is now more so; or probably foreign aided. A stable progressive Nigeria is not good for the powers that be as it empowers middle class and reduces their ability to curtail our resources for themselves

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  24. Sahara reporters your continued negative write-ups against the good people of the South is well noted, you've come clear now that the opposition is using this medium to further their divisive and 'must have all" agenda, keep casting the aspersions, pay day is coming for you people, your investigative journalism doesn't cover Olusegun Obasanjo thievery nor Ahmed Tinubu's cornering of the common wealth of the APC governed state. you evil, lopsided reporting and ethnic postulations will not stop the South, you guys must get this into your thick skull.

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  25. una no go shut up; na wao you ppl stil get mouth dey talk rubbish: u na ppl wen come dey chop our oil money; we never talk una dey open mouth; abacha chop; babangida chop; obasanjor chop; now buari and boko haram dey kill for the same oil money from niger delta; una dey craze well well; this time real war is our pledge; we will chase north out of this country

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