Tompolo Didn't Fall From The Sky, He Paid His Dues - Tosan Blessing

Niger Delta activist and public affairs commentator, Tosan Blessing, has recounted the early days of struggle of High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, stating that his present status was earned through years of sacrifice and not privilege.

Blessing, in a piece posted on his Facebook page and obtained by Pebnews reflected on a 2008/2009 photograph of the freedom fighter, questioning the stance of present-day critics.

"See how High Chief looked at this time. Where were you? I recall in 2013, a DSS Director asked me where could Tompolo be, I replied perhaps in the forests of Oceania. This photo was taken between 2008/2009. There was nothing called Tantita then," he wrote.

He recalled that Tompolo's persecution at the time was linked to his company, Global West Vessel Specialists Limited, and that many wanted him dead.

"His persecution was on account of Messrs Global West Vessel Specialists Limited. Everyone wanted him dead. He was even used as a political pawn to negotiate political pickings by a Nigerian politician recently implicated in a coup plot against the present civilian government," Blessing stated.

According to him, the period was marked by severe risks and intimidation. He narrated how, in one instance, Matthew Tonlagha, despite his disability, held onto the landing gear of a helicopter in protest over unresolved communal issues with an oil company, and was taken up to over 15,000 feet above sea level.

Blessing said he came into the fray later through Messrs GEECOMS, and by 2016 had entered the creeks to inspect the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko.

"I had entered the creeks to have a first hand look at the Nigerian Maritime University, which though former President Goodluck Jonathan ensured it commenced but the then Vice Chancellor was too timid to take residency," he recalled.

He disclosed that the university's take-off was facilitated by the sale of Mieka Dive, which was to serve as its charter facility, valued at N25 billion by government and private valuers, out of which only N13 billion was paid after Federal Executive Council approval.

"The balance was never paid after EFCC was prematurely corralled to investigate the transaction and it found nothing wrong. The EFCC's case was eventually dismissed by Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court," he stated.

Blessing also recounted his encounter with a former Minister of Transport over the viability of the university, saying he presented a GIS naval survey showing that most of the journey was through navigable creeks with only five nautical miles across the Atlantic to Okerenkoko and Kurutie.

He paid tribute to Keston Pondi and others who risked their lives during the struggle, including walking into Kurutie on the eve of the burial of Chief Osen Thomas Ekpemupolo, father of Tompolo, while DSS operatives were everywhere.

He further recalled an encounter with soldiers in the creeks who threatened to shoot if their boat did not stop.

"Soldiers even pointed guns at us and said if our boat did not stop at some point in the creeks, they would have ended our lives. I had to speak Fulani to the soldiers to explain we didn't see them. After struggling through nervous abatement, they let us go," he wrote.

Blessing stressed that none of them envisaged the emergence of Tantita Security Services at the time, but were driven by a cause worth fighting and dying for.

"If for any twist of fortunes, you see yesterday's just agitators becoming today's celebrities you should understand they paid their dues. They didn't just jump from the sky to the spoil to ask for freebies," he said.

"They sacrificed their families, rights, personal dignities to achieve their present privileges," he added.

He described the Gbaramatu struggle as a critical flashpoint for the Niger Delta, noting that it shaped Tompolo's consciousness through migrations, tensions and uncertainty, with his team standing solid in dark moments.

"What makes this struggle become even more poignant is what came after: Tunteriwei Gbaramatu Chief Osen Thomas Ekpemupolo, the father to High Chief would die in a tragic incident after an early morning naval invasion of Kurutie and adjoining Oporoza in 2016," Blessing stated.

According to him, the loss left Tompolo with fragmented memories and unanswered questions that later fueled his journey to understand identity, belonging and purpose, and ultimately defined his role in crafting the roadmap to peace in the Niger Delta.

"Sometimes our deepest wounds become our greatest strengths," he concluded.