THE administration of President Goodluck Jonathan appears determined to eradicate all forms of illegality in the Nigerian Water-ways – smuggling, hijacking, robbery and illegal oil bunkering.  Towards this end the administration came up with a pragmatic maritime policy.

The culmination of this policy is the concessioning of the Nigerian Waterways to Global West Vessel Specialist Limited by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). It is this concessioning which has today been given ethnic colouration by some commentators in the  nationaldailies who should at best be described as  vindictive.

These commentators  deliberately trample on the  historical reality that this policy was initiated by ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006. President Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’Adua took over and erected the framework for the facilitation of this  policy; President Jonathan has only just accomplished the framework for the consummation of this policy.  Correspondingly, the President should be commended for having arrived at the harbour of this policy.

Speaking frankly, does the concessioning of the nation’s waterways reek of ethnicity which some writers have infused into the policy? Where are the pointers of ethnicity?

Clearly defined as a contractual responsibility by Global West Vessel Specialist Limited is the provision of speedboat, equipment and expertise for the purpose of surveillance operations in the waterways.

This is a well-thought out plan towards cost-minimisation in maritime administration, increase in maritime revenue generation and opening up of the nation’s waterways to profitable commercial activities immune to predatory maritime attack or incursion.

This is a dependable formula for transformation of the Nigerian waterways into a maritime commercial paradise. It is  a healthy public/private partnership which reduces neither the Federal Government nor NIMASA to puppet existence in maritime administration. Yet, infantile and misguided  opinion writers  often  invest the concessioning policy with this unhealthy colouration.

It hurts that the concessioning of the nation’s waterways to the above named company has suffered obfuscation in the hands of belligerent writers such that  High Chief Government Ekpemupolo has been dressed in derogatory colours. Not even  terrified of the perilous risk of flight on fragile speculative wings, some opinion writers have gone as far as speculating  that  waterways  contract was given to chief Ekpemupolo because he owes  the aforementioned company. But if one may, is there anything wrong if he indeed owns the company and therefore awarded the contract particularly so if the company possesses the requisite expertise to run public/private partnership with the Federal Government of Nigeria as a citizen? Though no known law is violated by the award of waterways contract to Chief Ekpemupolo, but let it be known for the purpose of documentation that he is not the owner of the company. However, the company commands the blessing, confidence and companionship of Chief  Ekpemupolo. Therefore, in the execution of this waterways contract, the company will have unhindered access to the expertise of Chief Ekpemupolo in the area of intelligence-monitoring, intelligence- gathering and intelligence-utilisation in the eradication of maritime brigandage of any dimension.

The negative media portrait of Chief Ekpemupolo in respect of the waterways contract is disgusting and apparently  provocative. Naturally, anger – justifiable anger –  engulfs one  whenever half-truth is vindictively thrust on the world as  truth. Even at the risk of being speculative, I dare hazard that  Ekpenmupolo must have been justifiably irked by these  fancy  fabrications. No matter his depth of anger, he should  be comforted by the fact that he is attacked because of his leadership role in the  Niger Delta.

Towards the liberation of Niger Deltans from the oppressive, exploitative and dehumanising claws of the then Federal Government and the multi-national oil companies, it was Ekpemupolo who led a sustained agitation against all the diabolical structures. In the climax of the liberation war,  Ekpemupolo was variously denounced and portrayed by ethnic jingoists as a criminal who should be crushed.

Undistractedly, he held onto his avowed liberation struggle until the late president Yar’Adua declared amnesty for freedom fighters – which was ostensibly done to placate the justifiable anger of the emancipation activities of Tompolo, to rehabilitate and reintegrate him into the mainstream of  national development where his resources are abviously required. Following pressures mounted on Tompolo by good-intentioned Nigerians from all walks of life, he eventually embraced the AMNESTY offer very close to the hour of expiration of the ANMESTY and when he embraced  it, the entire nation heaved a sigh of  relief since he was the primary target of the amnesty programme – primary target because he was the only disciplined, sane-minded, co-ordinated and organised freedom activist whose  liberation activities have clear orbit and a human face, not given to emotional, irrational and psychopathic outburst. Chief Tompolo demanded that the development needs of Niger Delta should be taken up by the federal government as a matter of priority attention.

Even while the liberation activities of Ekpemupolo lasted, the federal government’s installations and that of the oil companies were his target. He had no intention to murder individuals as part of his liberation engagement.

Tompolo is a freedom activist whose activities were unwaveringly regulated by the fear of God and by the fear of  his war god EGESU whose war ideals he never deviated from – which was why his liberation engagement was popular and admired by the people who saw him as the solution to their developmental enslaveement.

Ideally, the transformation and metamorphosis of a man whose activities were once seen as threat to national peace and development should be celebrated with all the enthusiasm it deserves – particularly for a man whose activities were noble though constantly demonised by detractors.

Like the prodigal son, Tompolo deserves a higher celebration  integration party and this is what the  Federal government has done with the waterways concession.

Mr. EKANPOU ENEWARIDIDEKE, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Warri, Delta  State