By SEGUN GIWA

Leaders and stakeholders from the Niger Delta region have called on President Bola Tinubu to ensure the immediate decentralisation of pipeline and, oil and gas infrastructure surveillance contracts across the region.

The leaders made the call in an open letter to the President, which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Akure.

The letter was signed by the President of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Dr Alaye Tari Theophilus, and nine other leaders of the region.

The leaders also called for an investigation by anti-graft agencies into the utilisation of funds by the management of the Presidential Amnesty Programme under its current coordinator.

They warned against allowing any single non-state actor to exercise unchecked control over Nigeria’s critical oil infrastructure, saying such an arrangement could pose security risks to the country.

“No single non-state actor should hold unchecked operational authority over Nigeria’s most critical economic infrastructure.

“A joint supervisory framework bringing together security agencies, state coordinators, and recognised community leadership must be put in place now,” the letter said.

The stakeholders said the current pipeline surveillance structure had sidelined individuals and groups who supported the Federal Government during the 2015/2016 Niger Delta Avengers crisis.

They recalled that several leaders in the region aligned with government efforts at the time to prevent attacks on oil installations and maintain national stability.

The leaders expressed concern that those who defended the Nigerian state during the crisis were now being excluded from the present surveillance arrangement, while those who once threatened national assets were allegedly being empowered.

They also raised concerns over the operations of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, alleging unequal treatment among beneficiaries and calling for a probe into the management of the scheme.

The stakeholders urged the Federal Government to decentralise pipeline surveillance operations and place them under a state-by-state structure coordinated by the Nigerian Armed Forces.

The leaders, however, said their intervention should not be seen as a threat but as a warning aimed at preventing a return to instability in the Niger Delta region.

“When the Niger Delta Avengers emerged in 2015 and began destroying pipelines, collapsing Nigeria’s crude oil production from 2.4 million barrels per day to approximately 900,000, we did not join them.

“We did not retreat into the creeks. We did not leverage the threat of instability for personal advantage. We stood on the side of the Nigerian state at a time when standing there was neither safe nor profitable.

“Senior High Chief Bibopere Ajube physically sealed the waterways connecting Edo, Delta, and Ondo states with his own operational force, making it impossible for the Avengers crisis to reach the South-West corridor.

“King Michael Ateke Tom held Rivers State firm when pressure was mounting on all sides. King Dokubo Asari blocked the Kalabari axis.

“Chief Victor Ben Ebikabowei aligned with government containment efforts at personal risk, at a time when former colleagues were choosing a different path.

“We did not do these things for contracts. We did not do them for recognition. We did them because we believed that Nigeria was worth protecting.

“Your Excellency, we are writing to tell you that the Nigeria we protected is now treating us as its enemies.

“The current pipeline surveillance arrangement systematically excludes every leader we have named above.

“The system being built rewards those who once threatened Nigeria and sidelines those who defended it. That is not an accident.

“It is a pattern — and it is the same pattern Nigeria ran in 2015 and paid for dearly in 2016.

“We held the line in 2016. We are asking you to hold it now,” they stated.

Other signatories to the letter include Comrade Emmanuel Goteh Bieh, President, Ogoni Federated Youth; Lord Mammoth Knight, President, Ibom Youth Council; Chief Henry Assor, Ikwerre Youth Assembly; Comrade Joseph Etim Antai FICG, National President, Oro-Obolo Youth Assembly.

Others are; Comrade Usiwo Oghene Efezino, President, Isoko Leadership Forums; Chief Chika Obielumani, President, Coalition of Ndokwa Youth Leaders; and Hon. Kingsley Tenumah (Afere), Chairman, Warri Indigenous People’s Movement.

Also, Chief Mathias Efe Olowu, National Chairman, Odavwe R’Urhobo Group; and Prince Dr Asobi Oyemike, National Coordinator, Ndokwa Advocacy for Development and Good Governance. (NAN)

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