The Grand Patron of the Ijaw Youth Congress, Collins Eselemo has reiterated that the group’s struggle in the Niger Delta focuses on securing control over local resources.
This is following ongoing tensions in the Niger Delta over control of local resources and the management of pipeline surveillance contracts.
While speaking with ARISE NEWS in an interview on Friday, Eselemo said: “The kernel, the gravamen, and the mainstay of our agitation is centered on controlling our resources; we have to be self-determined and be free with ourselves. That is the mainstay. That is the kernel and that is the gravamen.”
Eselemo noted that Tantita works alongside other companies to manage pipeline surveillance, ensuring the system is shared and coordinated.
“Tantita, if I may say something, they are not the only company that is responsible for this surveillance thing. There are other companies that are responsible. Like Atake, it subsists by location. It gets from Tantita and it also gets from PINL. That is the one the Olu of Warri has been chairman of,” he said.
Eselemo argued that the calls for decentralization are driven more by personal gain than genuine community interest.
“The Boyloaf who is agitating for it to be decentralized—I’m just telling you what he picks: 43 million a month from even amnesty. And you are agitating? I see this as an act of enviousness on the part of the Boyloaf, the Atakes, and these Ogoni people—those who are really agitating for the decentralization of the pipeline surveillance.”
Eselemo emphasised that the surveillance contract is not controlled by a single company and is distributed across multiple stakeholders.
“It is not in the hands of one person,” he stated.
He further warned that excessive decentralization might divert attention from the Niger Delta, potentially reopening avenues for illegal bunkering.
“More people have been brought in already! That’s enough! That’s what I mean. More people have been brought in already. So the fear here is this: as the Grand Patron of the IYC, if I have to say something—what is happening in Iraq is trying to divert attention to Niger Delta, to bring back to status quo this illegal bunkering. And the Americans’ investment in this country will be jettisoned, and that will affect the governance,” he warned.
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