On August 6, videos emerged showing popular Fuji musician Wasiu Ayinde (KWAM 1) standing in front of a ValueJet aircraft in an attempt to prevent it from taking off.
According to TheCable, the singer had refused to give up a flask containing a substance that could not be taken on board in Nigeria. He claimed it was water. When Ayinde was removed from the plane, he decided to stand in front of the aircraft to prevent it from flying.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had earlier said that Ayinde could be tried for terrorism if found guilty of trying to illegally stop the ValueJet plane from moving.
A few days after the incident, Ayinde released an apology video where he took responsibility for his actions, although he insisted that the content of his flask was water.
On Wednesday, Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo announced that KWAM 1 would be named an ambassador for airport security.
Keyamo added that the NCAA had also reduced the musician’s six-month flight suspension to one month.
https://x.com/fkeyamo/status/1955524808067912142?
This decision did not sit well with many Nigerians. They deemed it ironic and a bad precedent for KWAM 1, who failed to properly conduct himself at the airport, to get an honourable ambassadorial role.
In this report, FIJ highlights previous notable instances of popular figures who have been awarded roles or profitable contracts after breaking the law.
Dokubo Asari: From Niger-Delta Militant To Protector of The Realm
A political figure of the Ijaw ethnic group, Asari Dokubo was an activist in the Niger-Delta region. His activism did not get violent until he created the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF).
NDPVF was a major unrest catalyst in the oil region. The group fought many rival militant groups like the Niger Delta Vigilante (NDV) in a struggle for the region’s oil resources.
In 2009, late Nigerian President Musa Yar’Adua granted amnesty to Dokubo.
As part of efforts to mitigate violence in the Niger Delta, the federal government assigned the duty to protect the oil pipelines from militant activities (which he once engaged in) to Dokubo.
He received an annual payment of up to $10 million to protect the pipelines in Rivers State.
In 2013, Dokubo himself criticised what he once enjoyed by saying that amnesty was fraudulent and must be discontinued by the government.
But it seems the former militant might not have desisted from violent ways. He made comments about shooting down military helicopters if they hovered over his home for 30 minutes in 2024.
“I didn’t go and look for the helicopter to shoot them down. I will shoot down the helicopter. I swear by Allah that I will shoot down the helicopter,” he said.
Oweizidei Ekpemupolo (Tompolo)
Like Dokubo, Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, was also pardoned by Yar’Adua. He is also from the Ijaw region and a member of the Ijaw Youth Council.
He joined the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), rose through the ranks and became one of the leaders of the group.
The group blew up pipelines and launched attacks at oil companies which resulted in billion-dollar losses in revenue.
After signing the amnesty agreement with the Nigerian government in 2009, former MEND leaders were awarded multimillion-dollar contracts to protect oil pipelines in their region.
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However, in 2016, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) declared Tompolo wanted on charges of theft and money laundering.
Tompolo was never apprehended until 2020. In 2022, former president Muhammadu Buhari, who had earlier issued a warrant of arrest against Tompolo, rewarded him by renewing his contract to continue to protect Nigeria’s oil pipelines.
[FIJ]
