"The Opportunity Cost Of Tompolo’s Private Jet" - 08 SEPTEMBER 2013

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 Bombardier SE60 LearJet. 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 bombardier SE60 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.

Kikiowo Ileowo is the editor of The Paradigm and a public commentator. Engage him on twitter via @ileowo4ever

Emai: ileowo4ever@yahoo.com

The Opportunity cost of Pastor Adeboye private jet. Live by ur own example.

Show's how messed Nigerian is - What if the US bought Osama a 'Lear Jet'?

GEJ is backward - Nigeria is backward,

This country is fooooked up men!

Abeg leave am make e chop oyel money

After all no be Yorubas dominate all the multinationals for SS?

Allow the guy use chain saw take cut his share of the national cake

@omo alaro, go & commit suicide, who cares? is d OIL in ur state? Is Nigeria not a FEDERATION where states ought 2 control their resources?

What Surveillance contract? Just like school building contract in bayelsa.
A mirage
GEJ and his fellow creek criminal simply took money out of the central bank for sharing.
Just Like their mentor.ABACHA

May God punish all Niger Delta haters. We're pulling out of dis con3 4rm now & 2015. FYI, we're ready 4 WAR

uncle jonathan God dey ooooo,pls now dis is so disheartning.

Give a cat some money to watch over your meat.
Hmm, 2015 will be brutal with 400,000 barrels of crude oil missing per day. Nigerian army will be overwhelmed with the type and quantity of arms that will come out of the Niger delta

omo alaro: Give a cat some money to watch over your meat.
Hmm, 2015 will be brutal with 400,000 barrels of crude oil missing per day. Nigerian army will be overwhelmed with the type and quantity of arms that will come out of the Niger delta

you've seen nothing yet

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?

My concern is with the part in bold.

Is it true that GEJ withdrew a proposal for a coast guard, as asserted by the author?

Naptu? Anyone?

After years of battling Niger-Delta militants, the Govt has decided it is more cost-effective to pay them off and turn a blind eye to some stealing than to continue to engage in a full-scale military offensive which costs more, not just in terms of financing the military operations but also the loss in oil output.

Perhaps, it's best to build military capacity until we are capable of defeating them. I've always said that the Nigerian military is incapable of winning a war against these militants, whether Boko Haram or the ND ones.

A demand that the ND militants are not paid off is in effect a demand that we wage full scale war in the Niger-Delta. Goodluck with that, I hope the promoters of this volunteer to join the army.

Is giving multi billion naira contract and latitude to steal oil the same as addressing the poverty and injustice in the Niger delta?.
In my opinion, the opportunity cost of Tompolo's private Jet is the continued deprivation, pollution and injustice that is still going on in the Niger delta.
More pollution is being experienced nowadays in the area because of increase in pipeline vandalism. When these rouges finish stealing the product from vandalized pipeline, the don't have the means or patience to repair broken pipe lines, they leave them to continue flowing until the companies come to repair them. Sometimes, they turn around to accuse these companies of polluting their environment and even demand compensation.
These are some of the price we pay for bad governance.

PehaKaso: May God punish all Niger Delta haters. We're pulling out of dis con3 4rm now & 2015. FYI, we're ready 4 WAR

my friend speak for yourself, as a niger deltan am against the likes of tompolo,asari dokubo, boyloaf, ateke tom and their likes, the are greedy thieves and murderers,the never fought for the good of fellow niger deltans, but only for their own good, the late isaac boro of blessed memory, is the only freedom fighter who fought for the betterment of all niger deltans,

I am niger deltan, but wat I dnt understand is ''how does buyin a private jet for urself alone amounts to emancipation of our dear niger delta? Private jets by men of God too is also condemnable. Nigeria is cursed! Very wicked and heartless set of humans we got!

Unfortunate as the situation is, piracy in the nigerian waters increased after a steady decline when Jonathan became president.

Alladem dey run go buy pravet jet so that if tinz begin to scatter den go fit sharparly travel go exile.bloody cawords.

Abeg free him na ur oil? @ OP d oil belongs 2 niger delta nt Nigeria

If d guy like let him buy dozen of jet is nt ur business d oil belongs 2 them nt Nigeria

It is only in Nig dat federal govt owns some1s oil go 2 Russia n other countries oil belongs 2 those dat own d land nt federal govt

PehaKaso: May God punish all Niger Delta haters. We're pulling out of dis con3 4rm now & 2015. FYI, we're ready 4 WAR

Dnt mine them
Wht abt d one d past leaders steal n leave d country hopeless

omo alaro:
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?

Contrary to the thinking that he has a running multi-billion contract with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, on protection of crude oil pipelines in Delta State, he said the contract awarded to Oil Facility Surveillance Limited, OFSL, which he is the chair, was only for one year, and that it expired since February 2012.

Excerpts:

The Federal Government awarded a contract to Oil Facility Surveillance Limited, OFSL, which you are a principal owner, to secure oil pipelines, yet oil theft is escalating in Niger-Delta. What is wrong?

The Federal Government truly awarded a contract to Oil Facility Surveillance Limited, OFSL, a security company of which High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, is the chairman of the board of directors, including some prominent Itsekiri youths in February 2011.

The contract was for a one-year pilot scheme that covers only Delta State and that it is to say the contract expired February 2012, over a year ago.

The operations of OFSL in Delta State was successful within the one year the contract lasted, which many stakeholders in the oil industry, including the present Group Managing Director, GMD of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, attested to during one of his television interviews with journalists.

How much was this contract? We were told it was about N3.6 billion?

The contract sum is between OFSL and the Presidency, represented by NNPC. We would not like to disclose the contract sum because it is a security issue.

However, due process was followed in the award of the contract and invoice was usually sent to NNPC with evidence of work done each month before payment was made. About 5,000 workers were engaged.

You also have another multi-billion naira contract with the Federal Government through NIMASA, to secure the coastal borders. What is really the worth of this contract and the scope?

The Federal Government, through NIMASA, awarded a public private partnership, PPP, contract to Global West Vessel Specialist Limited, GWVSL, and not to Chief Government Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo.

Tompolo is not on the board of GWVSL.
He was only approached by the management of the company to help it in carrying out its operations because of his vast knowledge of the coastal areas. The scope of the job is the area of the Nigerian territorial waters where shipping activities take place. One cannot give the worth of the contract because it is based on No-cure, no-pay.

What are the terms and value of this contract with Global West Vessel Specialist Limited? It is all over the place that you have collected over $103.4 million (about N15 billion).

Well, you have heard the truth and the whole truth from me now. Nevertheless, I know that in the contract terms, GWVSL is to provide a platform (made up of sea-going security vessels, technology for tracking ships, and so on).

No dime was given to GWVSL. It is what comes out of the operations that will be shared between the Federal Government/NIMASA and GWVSL. If there is no increase in the revenue of NIMASA, then GWVSL will not get any money. That is the meaning of no-cure, no-pay.

From the reports by the oil companies and government officials, oil bunkering across the boarders has increased. Why is your company unable to live up to expectation?

For the avoidance of doubt, I want to say that there is no contract now. OFSL fought crude oil bunkerers to a standstill during its operations in Delta State.

Clearly, it gave oil bunkerers the battle of their lives. Some of them are weeping till date.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/08/oil-firms-lie-over-crude-production-tompolo-ex-militant-leader/

Militants are celebrities in Nigeria. Very interesting.

PehaKaso: May God punish all Niger Delta haters. We're pulling out of dis con3 4rm now & 2015. FYI, we're ready 4 WAR

^
Wow!

If you are not Tompolo and or benefiting directly from his activities and loots then you dont even deserve a pity. What a mindset. I guess Tompolo and co have fought and "Emancipated" you guys by buying a Jet for community use What is that plane called again?

Sickening!

That is what you get when you give pearls to swine.

They paid these men so that you can eat well.. Do you prefer Kwashiorkor?.. Alljh. Atiku Aboki and back of yams feed from oil, dollars. Hence do or die madness.

Why make the noise, we come from Oil. It is our natural resource and nature made no mistake in putting it in our waters and soil.

Tombolo just tool delivery of just one private jet, more jets will come to us.

I will also announce to you guys once I take delivery of my own Private Jet.

Billyonaire - Oil Prince of Niger Delta!

The reason why majority of you have remained poor to date is that you lot forgot to accept the following axiom " people are not paid for what they know , rather they are paid for what they do with that they know ". Ranting here on nairaland will not help any one of you , better start doing something with what you know how best to do and get paid for it. Life is a battle , only the fit and strong survives in it .

@Billionaire

Long time no meet ... wishing you all the best .