Why Tompolo and Otuaro must no longer be defended

By: Enewaridideke Ekanpou

In every river there are always paddlers and travellers defined by differing vision and mission. Sighted on a given 'kuru' dugout canoe are different paddlers  ideologically driven and  united by common destination. To spread falsehood and dent the image of personalities is the obsession of these paddlers/travellers. These paddlers are equally matched in strength by a counter force whose philosophy it is to put the issues in clear perspectives against the destructive journey of the  obsessive paddlers.

These obsessive paddlers are the perpetual wholesalers/purveyors of negative products against High Chief Dr.(h.c.) Tompolo and Chief Dr. Dennis Otuaro.With  an amazingly inexhaustible capital base earmarked for mud-slinging, they never grow weary of creating or building new narratives around these two impactful Niger Deltans, even where everyone concedes there are no more image-battering stories to be told because all the worst stories have been told about them.

Out of deep concern and patriotism, some persons have ideologically positioned themselves as defenders of Tompolo and Otuaro. Good-intentioned these persons are, it is high time they departed from this path because it is wrong to defend the 'indefensible'. It is a sheer waste of time and energy defending the indefensible. Overwhelmingly excellent in performance, one does not know how to appropriate it verbally. The overwhelmingly  positive echo of Tompolo's and Otuaro's performance cannot be adequately defended however one tries it because the pigs of muddy ground would always explore new areas for mud to be splashed on repeatedly without justification -  as perpetual mud-splashing has become their daily pathology.

Tompolo and Otuaro can no longer be defended because such an attempt is tantamount  to a good-intentioned move to rescue pigs wallowing in mud or marshy ground. However one tries to rescue the pigs from the marshy ground, they will always go back because they cannot do without the mud that claims their entire body like a deodorant. For the pigs there is more joy derived from  wallowing in mud than being rescued from it; so are the paddlers/travellers on the 'kuru' dugout canoe who always journey upstream against Tompolo and Otuaro, leveraging false stories and narratives as their rudder at any whimsically chosen time. The mud in which the pigs wallow constitutes the false stories and narratives that wreak mud havoc on the performance reputation of Tompolo and Otuaro.

Stories and narratives on Tompolo and Otuaro have become easily predictable over the years. If the stories and narratives centre on Tompolo, it must journey around crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism currently handled by Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited. If the stories and narratives centre on Dr. Otuaro, it must journey around the Presidential Amnesty Programme. Deliberately cooked narratives on these two personalities have become cliches that ironically strengthen their performance image in their different national assignments. Darkness, deliberately activated darkness, only promotes and reinforces the brightness power of light as it casts its domineering radiance on the invasive darkness orchestrated by the pigs of marshy ground.

In the public domain are the performance stories of Tompolo and Otuaro. Crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism have been given a chokehold by Tantita. The daily crude oil production has gone far higher than the  time Tantita has not come into existence. Everywhere in Nigeria the joys of higher crude oil production are visible. The local refineries that once caused environmental pollution and hazard are no more visible. In the place of massive crude oil theft, 'kpo fire' and pipeline vandalism, empowerment outlets have been created for the people. Rather than perpetrate pipeline vandalism and illegal bunkering, the people have been engaged by Tantita to work towards the realisation of higher crude oil production. This is done  side by side with the creation of business /entrepreneurial platforms that provide funds to people with entrepreneurial skills.

The recent 800 million generously dished out to 30 entrepreneurs by Tantita reinforces the performance image of Tompolo. From Tompolo one can see and hear echoes of human capital development and capacity-building for Niger Deltans in varied dimensions. No day retires to bed without a single story of Tompolo's commendable performance just as no single day passes without negative narrative on Tompolo created by the pigs who are lovers of muddy and marshy ground. For every negative story on Tompolo there is a corresponding pragmatic response exampled by visible performance of Tantita in different sectors of the Nigerian economy.

What about the  negative daily narratives on Dr. Otuaro created by the lovers of muddy ground? The story of the Presidential Amnesty Programme wore new clothes right from the day Dr. Otuaro took over. Complaints arising from stipend-manipulation, educational programmes, overseas scholarship programmes and empowerment schemes for the ex-agitators have been given appropriate attention. The relationship between Dr. Otuaro and the Amnesty beneficiaries is historically cordial and commendable. No accusation of wealth-accumulation, oppression, exploitation, misappropriation and dehumanisation has been levelled against him by the Amnesty beneficiaries. Only plaudits centred on Otuaro's excellent performance daily emerge from the Amnesty beneficiaries. Otuaro has administratively redefined approach to the Amnesty Programme through his policy of non-discrimination and giving ears to every good-intentioned interjections.

The best mechanism of defence is good performance in any position of authority. Commendable performance is the antidote to unhealthy criticism.Some lovers of muddy ground have generously offered many unsolicited recommendations on Tompolo and Otuaro. For some pigs Tompolo must be relieved of his contract on the elimination of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism. In the same vein, some  pigs have irrationally campaigned for the removal of the current Amnesty boss, even without any quotable act of contravention or violation of anything.

Some persons promptly move to counter these obviously maddening recommendations.These are what I called 'indefensible' recommendations. 
The visible performance story of Tompolo and Otuaro are enough to silence their confused, croaky voices. Defence in this context is baseless and unnecessary because any defence put up for Tompolo and Otuaro gives undeserved visibility to the carriers and propagators of negative narratives on these two personalities. These pigs are the cursed farmers who daily cultivate a piece of  land that has irredeemably lost its fertility no matter the attempt to regain the soil fertility through the agricultural practices of bush burning, shifting cultivation, crop rotation and bush fallow.

Aware of the frantic and feverish  moves of the pigs, the carriers, the propagators and the farmers in search of soil fertility, if you must talk about High Chief Dr. Tompolo and Dr. Otuaro, it must not be couched in a language of denuciatory defence because it is indefensible. It is conceptually indefensible because there is already an existing potent defence for these two personalities centred on their visible performance. The visible performance story of Tompolo and Otuaro is enough defence for any campaign of 'mud-throwing'. If you must talk about Tompolo and Otuaro, dwell on their verifiable performance stories, undistracted by the orchestrated negative narratives because counter verbal moves give the pigs unnecessary visiblity. The best claimant to the right and tool of a fool is the one who calls for an end to Tantita's contractual engagement just as it is for the one whose public outburst centres on calls to relieve Dr. Otuaro of his position as the boss of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.They are all  idle campaigns and self-serving recommendations rooted in envy, stupidity and unstoppable mental retardation. No government at any level very much at home with the performance statistics of High Chief Dr. (h.c.) Tompolo and Chief Dr. Otuaro would have been swayed by these sustained idle campaigns masterminded by the notorious mentally dislocated pigs of marshy ground. 

Dr. Ekanpou writes from Akparemogbene, Delta State.