Cheta Nwanze writes what he’s scared of Tompolo and why the Buhari government should be too.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he handling of a potential crisis in the Niger Delta by the Buhari government leaves a lot to be desired.
Nigeria has got to learn how to change the way we handle issues. We can no longer continue to attempt to kill flies with sledgehammers when clearly the handling of #BokoHaram has shown that it cannot work.
I have said before that the one Niger Delta militant I am scared of is MEND leader, Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo.
Why am I scared of Tompolo?
Unlike the Asari Dokubos of this world, Tompolo despite the fat wealth he made off of the last government, maintained his base in the creeks, and kept his military strength. That is a man with foresight, underestimate him at your peril.
For those of you who may not know, these are the guys that ran Camp 5, which our military did not quite manage to snuff out.
The best time to snuff out a pest with force is when he is still a bud. When he has grown into an iroko, you have to become a little more sensible about the way you handle him.
Make no mistakes abut it, Tompolo’s contract with NIMASA had to go. However, the question is, how?
Unilaterally cancelling it without consulting someone who the last government had allowed to become a law onto himself, is a tactical error.
Can Nigeria afford two insurgencies at the same time?
Is Nigeria capable of tackling two insurgencies at the same time?
Consider what an extra hit on the current, lean, government revenues will do to unrest in the polity, especially when you take that our rather silly Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) are already making noises about salary increments, then you’ll realise that between #BokoHaram, Tompolo, and NLC, we are in an almost impossible situation that requires tact and not brute force.
Want a semi-comparable situation? Think the IRA. The might of the UK could not defeat that monster, so they had to reach an agreement.
Nigeria, like it or not, has let Tompolo grow so big. We have to reach an accord of sorts with him and his men.
What scares me the most is that while Goodluck Jonathan could not think to save his own life, President Muhammadu Buhari is actually General Muhammadu Buhari, and his instinct will be force.
Nigeria will be worse off if we use force.
For the records, Tompolo’s people in the Niger Delta, have a very genuine grievance.
Cheta Nwanze is a journalist and IT professional. He tweets from @Chxta.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
