 Several militant groups in the region are angry with the federal government for leaving them out of the juicy contract and are now calling for immediate review to accommodate everyone talking about the 40 billion Naira oil surveillance or pipeline surveillance contract. Now, they are threatening to make the contract unwalkable. However, the John National Congress stepped into the matter with the president of the group, Professor Benjamin Okaba, setting up a five-member committee to interface with stakeholders in order to forestall any trouble. Some militants under the ages of third-phase ex-agitators' leaders yesterday demanded a review of the contract awarded to Tom Polo with the view of accommodating other ex-agitators. They also called for a meeting with Tom Polo and other relevant authorities, especially with the third-phase ex-agitators' leaders to ensure proper security of the pipelines and all facilities in the Niger Delta region. If not, they say it will fail. Joining us to discuss this is Dennis Amakri, he's a security consultant and a former assistant director of the DSS. Thank you so much, Mr. Amakri, for joining us. Can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you. Great. Let's start by looking at the morale behind this contract that was awarded to government Ekom Polo, aka Tom Polo. I'd like to let you know that as we speak right now, if you go to EFCC's website, he's a wanted felon, he has two bench warrants, and this is the guy that the federal government chose to award a 40 billion Naira contract to secure all installations. Of course, several others are querying this, so let's start by looking at what's the idea behind this. Well, you know, it is a situation where the federal government is trying to look for solutions, and then sometimes these solutions are not well prioritized. I was in the oil industry for so many years, and we've always advised government, go ahead and take care of the Niger Delta. That way, no militant group or any tiered militants will come around to say that, oh, we want our money, or it's our turn to have our own and stuff like that, because you remember when the militancy was very high, especially in 2006, you know, and the president and that our oil dropped all the way from 2.5 million barrels a day to about 600,000 a day. So the country was losing money, and they have to talk to these militants, and they actually went ahead and did it, and thanks to former president Yara, late president Yara Dua, and the amnesty was given, which showed up the production of oil, but we discovered that the militants that were given this money were the top guys, you know, the top guys of which Tampolo was one of them, you know, and there is a second tier of militants, you know, just like a hierarchy. Second, now they are calling themselves third tier or third face of militants. These guys had the short end of the stick, where they feel that more should come to them and it wasn't. And now, because they've lived with that scarcity, another contract has been given again, and they feel that, no, this time, you either come down and tear it with us or, you know, we'll make it ungovernable for you to operate. Now, because as a result of this, you know, over 48 billion Naira contract, a group of northern young persons have come out to say that they're going to occupy the NNPC in Abuja, of course, and they were quoted to say that if government is able to give a former militant this amount of money to surveil our pipelines, which might be a good thing, they're also saying that this is what they're saying, that they need monies to be given to, you know, mercenaries so that they could come and put an end to the banditry in the north. Now, let's address that issue, your security person. These two issues place side by side. Can we say that they're two of the same kinds of things, and really, they ask, is it too much? There are a coalition something, something that, you know, asking for these priorities are misplaced, misplaced, totally misplaced. I think they just want to be recognized, but be that as it be, you know, if what they are saying is that militants can talk to the finance, then, of course, go around, up there, and many people are, you know, agitated that government should talk to go around. Fine. And, you know, the government can go that route by discussing with them and find out how they can solve that problem, you know, which has taken so many years to solve. Now, at the same time, when they are going to an MPC to do what, to bring oil money to them too, or what, they should remember the agitations in the Niger Delta was not just banditry. It was not banditry. It was not terrorism. It was, you know, people are asking for a fair share of what is being taken away from their place. And then, of course, if you go today, like I said earlier, the environment in the Niger Delta is bad. Many farmers or fishermen cannot go fishing. And this is what government should do instead of throwing money at militants who are just, you know, most of the people that are agitated that they want to follow, they can put a lot on follow is because they feel that it is money that they must take and share and eat, you know. But the problem of the Niger Delta remains. And that part of follow itself has to be very, very careful in handling this particular problem. Let's talk about the, I mean, there are many people that are making a case here, like I said, it's a row of sorts. As we speak, resident doctors are about to go on a strike. We hear that resident doctors in Abia State have been on strike for one year. I'm wondering what the health sector in that state looks like right now. Also, as we still on strike, they've continued in fact, as we speak, the update is they've continued this strike because there's been a deadlock between them and the government. How much are they asking for? About one point, something trillionaire. Again, of course, there's that deadlock with the IPPIS, that's all on the one hand. The economy doesn't look so great as we speak, but then we do have security votes running in billions going to states, even though it's shrouded in so much secrecy. But we also heard today that local government officials are pocketing these monies. The president of the Federal Republic recently sent away two governors saying that, why do you come to me to ask for help when you have security votes? There are other issues of insecurity, the economy, different sectors that are ailing. And one would wonder, why are these oil installations such a critical thing at this time as opposed to the lives of people who are being lost daily, to banditry, to kidnapping, to insecurity? And of course, an almost half-past-dead health sector. Well, you know that oil, or crude oil, so to say, is a lifeline, is an economic lifeline of this country. So whether doctors are living in the country or schools are closed or whatever, the government has found it convenient that at least if they secure the pipeline, as long as the oil flows, and there will be no problem, the money will come in. But like I said, these are misplaced priorities. These pipelines, some of them are very old, some of them have been installed for years, some of them are lost by themselves. And then, of course, they spoil the environment in which they are passing through. So, you know, you put our priorities right by taking care of all these things, take the pipelines if possible, or make the oil companies to change them, you know. And then, of course, make sure that you take care of all those people who are around the area where the pipelines are crossing themselves. And then, of course, no military will come and say, oh, we want the state because we cannot control our resources. Let's talk about the... So during the NVA conference, I just concluded one last week, Monday, the Social Democratic Party presidential candidate, Adebayo, made a very interesting statement about oil theft in the country. Now, he did, in not so many words, say that government was complicit in the amount of crude that is being stolen from this country and shipped out, right under the noses of our security agents, our border control. And of course, the guys who are supposed to be protecting these oil installations. And so this has also, on the other hand, stared the waters. So I want to ask, now that we have this 48 plus billion Naira contract, will it in any way check the amount of crude oil that is being still taken out of this country, sold outside of this country, the funds also staying outside of the country, not being repatriated into the country? Again, I'm curious to understand where all our security agents are. I'm talking about the military, I'm talking about the police and all of the installations in the Niger Delta, around where these oil installations are. Is the federal government telling us that these security agents are incapable of doing the job, hence we need militants? Well, I can tell you one thing for sure, because I was in that moment when I was consulting for some oil companies. There are two major issues there. And that's the one that the first one is oil bonk ring and pipeline vandalization. That is one small aspect of the whole thing. And of course, two pipeline vandalization, there is a group that is popping out and dispoiling the environment. And, you know, we have a lot of community people agitated because they can see that the source of livelihood is gone. That is the first one. Oil bonk ring, the clean of oil and selling it. Now, where real stealing is placed is what we call hydrocarbon accounting. And I wish, you know, agencies like the DSS should focus on this properly, because I can tell you that that's where the majority of the oil is being stolen. Stolen not by even these local boys, stolen by the international oil company, you know, on a daily basis, because when you find out, you know, we don't know how many barrels of oil is produced in Nigeria and how many barrels of oil is being shipped out of this one. Yes, I think the DSS should look after that. Look at it very, very carefully. Why should it be the job of just the DSS? We have the NMPC now that it's a PLC. They're supposed to be settled with that responsibility. I can tell you that I don't trust, I can tell you I don't trust the NMPC or their subsidiaries of DPR or NAPIMS or whoever, because apparently some people are getting rich, fatally rich in those agencies. That's why either the EFCC, DSS should look strongly in this hydrocarbon accounting, you know, how much oil are we producing, how much oil is being exported from Nigeria, because that's where the majority, you know, state is going on. It is not those pipeline-posting youths that filled up the 3 million barrels of oil that was recently arrested. That was not just breaking pipelines and filling it up, because to fill up a cycle like that with 300 million barrels is something that, you know, if it is from pipeline-posting, it will take months and months. But this was it, you know, where they actually put it into that and then, of course, thanks to the Navy for covering that and bringing them back to Nigeria. If you do a thorough investigation, they will find out those people who are involved in it and who. It's a syndicate and I think the security agencies should look at it very well. And everything that you said, it still comes down to, I mean, that's what I think I hear. The government is complicit. This amount of crude cannot be stolen without an insider. Secondly, let's talk about the refineries. So we do have refineries that don't work, but we're using billions to service those refineries every single year. And I'm thinking to myself, what sense is in that? We're paying salaries to people who are working in a refinery that is not in any way producing anything. And we are taking monies to export this crude and we use our monies again to buy it back. So, I mean, what exactly, like you said, this is our mainstay. Why are we so nonchalant about tightening all the loose ends around the same mainstay if we really are serious about it? I think we have the major animal chaos, which is corruption. Corruption is there. Bulldozing is all over the place. And, of course, there is complicity that goes on. And, of course, people will fail to address it. The president has come out to say, look, he set up a tax force to go down to the 90th Delta and find out more about crude theft. And, of course, we've not heard anything much about that committee and what has happened, you know. And people are not aware of many things that will happen. So, I think such lies should turn around, you know. Follow the direction of the president and, of course, go to the bottom of why we are still losing this amount. We are not meeting opaque quotas. We are not. Our opaque is even raising quotas for us to fill up. But we are not, because a lot of it is frittered away by agar, you know, these carbon tax tips or other local bunkers. Let's talk about measures, deterrents that can be put in place. And when I'm talking about that, I'm talking about on all fronts for all concerns, whether they be bunkers, whether they be IOCs, whether they be security agents or even border control. What sorts of measures need to be put in place so that maybe, let's use the Nigerian way of saying a hedgerow, people go down for it. Maybe that might be a deterrent. But what needs to be done for that to happen? Well, I think the procedures and the standards have to be tightened up, not to tighten it up, starting from an MPC, tighten it up. And then, of course, the rules and the procedures that are given to the international oil companies, most also be tightened up. Because things they cannot do in foreign countries to do in our place and get away with it. Because they're strongly that they can bribe one or two officials and nothing will happen. You'll remember when BP blew up in the Gulf of Mexico. And the whole place was destroyed. Thousands of crude oil barrels were poured into the Gulf. And then, of course, it affected aquatic agencies, aquatic lives. And then, of course, that affected also restaurants. It affected the cuisine industry. And the government of the United States was quick to move in there. And they made them to bring it back, normal, bring it back to the original state where you can look into the water and see the peoples on the coast. And they did it. When it happens in Nigeria, it's like, oh, we're not going to do it because our MD knows somebody in government or we know somebody in MPC and nothing happens. Because when you look at it, Oguni Oguni clean up is still staggering. Nobody, they're still not cleaning up till now. So he campaigned upon, he used the Oguni cleanup as part of his campaign. And it's incredible that you even remember that it's, I don't know if it's staggering. I think it's still asleep. But yet to deal with the surface. I know that some cleaners went in there and then they did some job. But that is taking too long. How long are you going to do that? It's staggering. That's why I said it's staggering. And then when you go to other areas in the Niger Delta, fishermen cannot fish anymore. The kinds of boats cannot go offshore to go and fish and come back because the local areas, the rivers, are all protected. So these are the things. And these people will continue to agitate as long as we play games with it. Now we are talking about $48 billion that I have contracted on Polo. I hope that Polo is going to take it more as a business venture. As a business venture, get all the people involved, the state, get them involved, and then of course. Because in that, I'm not saying you want to just take money and eat. Because there are people whose livelihood now depends on offering. Whose livelihood depends on running around inside the pipeline or whatever they like. So you are going to secure the pipeline. The first step is to make sure you involve all these people in such a way that they will forget, they will forget bursting the pipelines. And then of course, they will have a livelihood while they protect the pipeline. I think that is the best thing to do. I'm surprised, Mr. Maki, that you are hoping that Tom Polo would take it seriously. I'm sorry, but I find it very ridiculous that a wanted felon, a one-time militant, we would hope that automatically this person would be a man of honor. It's ridiculous. It's like the federal government saying, oh, the terrorist whose wife we flew to a great hospital to give birth and take care of their family didn't hold up his own side of the bargain. How do you expect a terrorist to be an honorable person? And I'm not in any way saying that Tom Polo is a terrorist, but I'm saying, why should we be hoping? In Nigeria Delta, they would tell you that. And I don't think Tom Polo sees himself as a terrorist. I think he sees himself as a terrorist. No, no, I didn't say he was a terrorist. I'm just trying to place it side by side. If this is a wanted felon, why would you hope that he would be honorable? Yes, I'm going to tell you, because that is what they fought for. And that's why you find another one. Other people outside the region will call them terrorists. Most of the time, the comment I've already understood that whereby they went ahead and give them amnesty. When they give somebody amnesty, that means I don't deal with all the former crime that was committed. And then, of course, theirs was committed because they were trying to look for a better life for their people. So no problem. If he's given the contract, I hope that we'll handle it like a business man. I use specialized ideas in handling it, and then successfully. His measure of success will come when you win no more pipe-like hostages because the oil is flowing freely. Well, Dennis Amakere is a security consultant and a former assistant director with the DSS. Thank you so much. It was a pleasure to speak with you, Mr. Amakere. Thank you for having me. All right. And thank you all for joining us. Thank you for being part of the conversation. That's the show tonight. But before we go, I will give you my take. Now, the art of a deal is an essential asset that we should all want in our leaders. The truth of our differing wants and needs as the citizenry means that our leaders, if truly representing our interests, must be capable and willing to compromise for our sake. Making the tough choices in leadership is a burden only an exceptional few are capable of carrying. Well, I hope that we have those types of leaders in Nigeria. I'm Mary Annacle. Have a great day.