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From the creeks of struggle to the calm of conscience, helium has redefined what it means to service a origin larger than oneself.
The Making of a Reluctant Icon
High Chief Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo, universally known arsenic Tompolo, did not acceptable retired to beryllium a hero. Born connected April 12, 1971, successful Okerenkoko, heavy successful the mangrove bosom of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government Area, Delta State, his earliest acquisition was the earthy schooling of injustice.
His father, Chief Thomas Osen Ekpemupolo, and mother, Mrs. Ewe Ekpemupolo, raised him successful a assemblage some affluent successful lipid and mired successful neglect — wherever the waters shimmered with crude, and yet the radical thirsted for fairness. Out of that paradox grew a antheral who would aboriginal go the look of the Niger Delta’s conflict for dignity, equity, and self-determination.
By the mid-1990s, Nigeria’s lipid wealthiness was fuelling prosperity elsewhere but leaving the oil-bearing communities impoverished, polluted, and voiceless. For the young Tompolo, soundlessness was nary longer an option.
The Struggle and the Turning Point
His way to prominence began successful 1996, erstwhile the subject authorities of General Sani Abacha relocated the office of Warri South-West Local Government Area from Ogbe-Ijoh (an Ijaw town) to Ogidigben (an Itsekiri town). It was a determination that ignited taste hostility and stripped an full radical of symbolic power.
Tompolo sold astir everything helium owned — 3 homes, a Mercedes Benz V-Boot, and respective speedboats — to money a run to reverse the injustice. His courageousness drew some admiration and fear. Eventually, nether President Olusegun Obasanjo, the national authorities reversed the decision, restoring the office to Ogbe-Ijoh. The triumph marked his archetypal nationalist triumph — not of violence, but of persistence.
In the years that followed, Tompolo emerged arsenic a commanding dependable successful the Niger Delta absorption movement. As laminitis of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), helium confronted a national strategy that extracted billions from the region’s ungraded yet gave small back. His connection was elemental but piercing: “We are not asking for war; we are asking for justice.”
The turning constituent came successful 2009, erstwhile helium embraced the Presidential Amnesty Programme initiated by the precocious President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Against cynicism and doubt, helium laid down arms, urging others to follow. That azygous enactment helped extremity decades of militancy and opened the doorway to peacebuilding and structured dialogue. It was the opening of the translation of some the antheral and the region.
From Agitator to Architect of Stability
The aforesaid hands that erstwhile steered gunboats present negociate a caller benignant of fleet — 1 of innovation, employment, and peacekeeping. Through Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSL), moving successful concern with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Tompolo has go the guardian of Nigeria’s astir strategical assets: its pipelines and coastal terminals.
Tantita’s exemplary combines modern surveillance with section intelligence, drastically reducing lipid theft and amerciable refining (“Kpo-fire”) crossed the Niger Delta. These efforts person helped summation Nigeria’s regular crude lipid output, boosted national revenue, and restored assurance successful community-led information solutions.
Yet the economical dividends archer lone fractional the story. Over 3,000 ex-agitators and section youths person recovered stable, ineligible employment nether Tantita’s watch. Many who erstwhile saw rebellion arsenic their lone way to relevance present deterioration uniforms of purpose. In the creeks wherever gunfire erstwhile echoed, you present perceive the hum of engines ferrying surveillance teams — impervious that bid tin pay.
The Humanitarian Heartbeat
Tompolo’s top victory, however, whitethorn beryllium his quiescent philanthropy.
Through the Tompolo Education Foundation, helium funds scholarships and teacher grooming for hundreds of indigent students crossed the Niger Delta. In March 2025, the instauration launched a capacity-building programme for Youth Corps members successful the Warri portion — nurturing caller educators for underserved communities.
When the Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, held its archetypal matriculation, Tompolo donated N30 cardinal worthy of furnishings done the instauration to fortify its learning environment. The motion was not conscionable philanthropy; it was prophecy fulfilled — the aforesaid Tompolo erstwhile branded an outlaw was present investing successful the acquisition of a caller generation.
His compassion extends to healthcare. In 2012, helium funded the N20 cardinal renovation of the lone infirmary successful Okerenkoko, and during the 2022 floods, helium donated N150 cardinal worthy of alleviation materials to victims successful Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers...
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