I set the tone of this open letter, first, to the foremost security firm in the Niger Delta region, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL), with the sayings of Sun Tzu, a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer, when he wrote: "Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories."

I also direct this open letter to the Federal Government of Nigeria, FGN, from whom the so-much talked and debated as well as opposed pipeline surveillance contract (PSC) that was awarded via the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, under the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari OFR, originated from.

And lastly, this letter, in addition, has the attention of those I classify as 'The Opposition', that have kicked and are still kicking against the awarded contract to the foremost Niger Delta leader, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, who, through Tantita, has been executing the pipeline surveillance job to the admiration of not only Nigerians, but foreign invested interests in the oil and gas industry.

But before delving further, let me first use this opportunity to salute Tantita's management team and its entire staff for their patriotic sense of duty in rising to the call, as compatriots that they are, to salvage the man-made problem (one that had for long defied all known solutions) of incessant crude oil theft and the vandalization of oil and gas assets in the petroleum industry.

While the achievement of the above feat by Tantita in reducing maximally oil theft in the region is a gain to the FGN as evidenced in increased oil output which translates into more revenue earnings, I nonetheless doff my hat in reverence to what I term as the greatest feat of achievement recorded by the security agency—the protection of the Niger Delta coastal environment from further degradation occasioned by incessant oil spills from vandalized pipelines, and from the uncontrolled proliferation of refining activities in the creeks and elsewhere.

Frankly speaking, knowing that the government and other stakeholders in the oil and gas industry that are operating in the Niger Delta care less about the region's infrastructural development, the unabated pollution of our ecosystem if gone unchecked would have further plunged the coastal areas of the region into another 'Hiroshima' in the nearest future, particularly when the 'oil has run dry'. The implications of this are that, other economic mainstay asides crude oil would have been destroyed, and its aquatic terrains would have become unhabitable, leading to the great loss of the ancestral heritage of its inhabitants.

On that note, to the management and other workforce of the security firm, you have all done very well from the word 'Go!' in the award of the pipeline surveillance contract. Tantita's exploits in the fight against oil theft is mind boggling. In fact, the company's modus operandi runs contrary to perceived expectations of most persons despite that hullabaloo from 'The Opposition'. Through the security firm's efforts, sundry 'taps' or illegal connections to pipelines (with the intent to divert or siphon crude unsuspiciously) were discovered. Through this, Tantita went from just dissuading locals involved in crude oil refining (known locally as kpofire) to unearth underground schemes perpetrated by highly connected individuals and cartels. And this brings the part of this open letter to the attention of the FGN.

I am well aware (going by common sense) that the FGN knows that Tantita, by it exhibiting patriotism in the execution of a dire national assignment, has made for itself a lot of enemies. Mind you, oil theft has been a very lucrative business that has been going on for decades and has made influential and powerful those involved in the illegal trade. These beneficiaries have employed their wealth to buy over any threat, including security agents to compromise. And with the arsenal of influence in their possession, they will surely not give up without fighting back. And that is what has been happening, especially with those in opposition to the contract.

Also, because the job that Tantita is doing is a very sensitive one, the company has constantly faced condemnation from the onset. Moreover, attempts have been made, even recently, to dampen its reputation by making Tantita's modus operandi look like an amateur with the aim to cast doubt over its professionalism on the job. Going to the extreme, attempts have been made to set it up for a fall with the ulterior motive of re-awarding the contract to another agency that may be easily compromised as against the tough resistant stand put up by Tantita in it refusing to compromise.

It is not strange that those who are opposing the awarded contract to Tompolo via Tantita are not foreigners but are Niger Deltans themselves. This lay more credence to the popular Biblical proverb that a man's enemy is from his household. And come to think that some of those in 'The Opposition' were former allies to Tompolo during the era of the struggle for the emancipation of the Niger Delta is quite sickening. But majority of Niger Deltans are wiser now. They know those who are the true patriots of the region.

To the FGN, the statistics concerning the results achieved by Tantita in securing oil assets are there to speak for itself. It is a matter of asking the simple question: "Is Tantita working?" And the answer that follows reroute one back to the statistics on ground. And indeed, the statistics are public, not hidden; everyone can attest to the fact that Tantita has brought about a turnaround in the oil and gas sector. That is a fact that is loud enough to drown the many voices of 'The Opposition' who are just noise makers on a mission to cause confusion in the region for selfish purpose.

As it is said, "He that the cap fits, let him wear it." And the cap of PSC sits very well on the head of the Niger Delta leading security firm, Tantita. It is not contestable. And by God's grace, the cap is here to stay. The FGN should therefore be wise not to fall into the trap of 'The Opposition' by yielding to their voices of confusion, but by it sticking to the evidences of performance. Moreover, the FGN should know that "a bird in hand is worth more than two in the bush." As long as Tantita is delivering on the job, why bother with opinions of 'The Opposition'? 

#mypublicdiscourse #Tantita