Kestin Pondi as the Bill Gates of Niger Delta, By Enewaridideke Ekanpou 

By: Enewaridideke Ekanpou

The universe is clothed in mysticism. From their theologically held varied sacred holes of African traditional religion, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity and many others, the inhabitants of this universe daily labour to explore and express this existential enigma for their own spiritual growth and sustenance. A known admission within mystical circle is that objects do vibrate at their own frequencies towards cosmic orderliness.The vibratory frequency of an object cannot be disrupted however the efforts of man to defile the vibratory order. This eloquently tells the world why TANTITA was deservedly given performance award of recognition in Abuja by the Gbaramatuvoice on 28 August 2025 despite the demonic resilience of verbal destroyers to deface Tantita and dismantle its vibratory frequency in performance. It is historically striking that TANTITA has been deservedly given this award for outstanding excellence in protecting Nigeria’s oil and gas.

Tantita daily vibrates at a frequency beyond the killer vibrations of crude oil thieves and pipeline vandals. Either from ethnic or pathological individual fixations drawn from indestructible spirit of envy and malignancy, those who journey verbally everyday to destroy and bury Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited will perpetually fail because Tantita’s vibratory frequency cannot be tampered with. As verbal vagabonds whose habitual course in the creeks of the Niger Delta is known, nobody will ever lose sleep over the evil activities of the sworn verbal destroyers of TANTITA and the personalities connected to its history of performance over the years.

The performance history of Tantita cannot be sustained without the strategic thinking and efforts of the personalities associated with it.Through the strategic thinking and efforts of High Chief Dr Tompolo, Hig Chief Kestin Pondi, High Chief Barrister Macdonald Igbadiwei, Chief Tare Pondi, Dr Paul Bebenimibo and many others too many to be specified, the visible performance history of Tantita is being daily foregrounded. With pride and supportive evidence any Niger Deltan can echo the fact that Tantita has snuffed life out of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta. A significant part of this non-kinetic approach to the menace of oil theft and pipeline vandalism is rooted in the ‘benevolent weaponisation’ of philanthropy.

The deployment of philanthropy as a strategy to combat oil theft and pipeline vandalism is a creation of High Chief Engr. Kestin Pondi (managing Director of Tantita) in whose blood philanthropy naturally flows without a terminal point in a manner that memorably evokes images of William Henry Bill Gates of America.

William Henry Bill Gates is an American businessman and philanthropist globally associated with the pioneering of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. With his childhood friend Paul Allen, he founded the software company Microsoft in 1975. In 1987 Bill Gates became a billionaire at the age of 31. In the ranking of Forbes magazine, Bill Gates was the wealthiest person in the world for 18 years out of 24 years between 1995 and 2017. He is always celebrated globally for his philanthropy.With the proliferation of many more Kestins of philanthropy – which we naturally expect – Niger Deltans would be better placed in economic salvation and stability activated by philanthropic individuals.

Pondi has become the memorable face and storyteller of meaningful philanthropy in the Niger Delta. Chronicles reveal his philanthropic tentacles transcend the Niger Delta. Millions of naira have been given to men and women to upgrade their businesses. Musicians have had modern musical instruments bought for them for the advancement of their music careers.Intelligent and educationally ambitious students have had their educational paths lubricated financially from first degree to doctoral levels. At the doctoral level I have also had a shower of Pondi’s torrential philanthropic rain in specific areas. Fishermen, comedians, journalists, market women and Facebook content creators have differently been benevolently caught drenched by Pondi’s philanthropic rain.What about people who had health challenges but too financially incapacitated to go to hospitals, or seriously ill people who had no money to go to hospitals for proper medical attention?

There is something mind-blowing about Pondi’s philanthropy, yet equally mind-boggling about Pondi who hails from Sokebulou and Ogulagha communities in Burutu Local Government Area and Kurutie community in Warri South-West Council of Delta State. Philanthropy, in many cases, is often teleguided, underpinned and driven by political ambition not yet revealed. In some cases it is driven by a pathological desire to flaunt wealth envisioned to pluck the most naturally endowed women on earth. Pondi is neither a politician nor a chronic hunter of women. Pondi’s philanthropy is not the one from which reciprocal responses of voters and women of easy virtue are expected. Chief Kestin Pondi’s philanthropy is genuinely rooted in a vision to put smile on the faces of the common people on earth. It is a humanism-consolidated philanthropic journey that expects absolutely nothing from the society as a reciprocation, except progress report derived from investment on the philanthropic seed planted here and there. Philanthropy without expectation is a commendable venture; Pondi deserves commendation for his philanthropy of no expectation.

Niger Delta is peopled by personalities who have the capacity to journey on Pondi’s philanthropic path but only scamper away like monkeys in the sight of a hunter with a gun. Kestin Pondi is philanthropic not because he is the richest Niger Deltan; he is philanthropic in philosophy because it sweetens him like honey to see humans grow economically through the deployment of investable income in meaningful ventures. Jesus Christ’s earthly ministries centred on spiritual salvation but Kestin Pondi’s earthly ministry centres on economic salvation of humanity. In the hellish days of hunt and kill Tompolo, Tompolo was figuratively the Jesus Christ in the midst of criminal traitors who were bent on killing him. Like Jesus Christ and the criminals, Kestin Pondi has become the Jesus Christ of economic salvation in the Niger Delta.

In comparative religious discourse linked to the hellish days of Tompolo, Kestin Pondi is the Jesus Christ of economic salvation. However, in comparative broader perspective, Pondi is the Bill Gates of Niger Delta because, at a young age, he journeys philanthropically without expectations from those who have been economically blessed and revived by him.Bill Gates the American businessman and philanthropist became a billionaire at a very young age . He was a famous philanthropist who channelled some of his resources towards the betterment of humanity. From his own hard-earned resources, Kestin Pondi is philanthropically on a journey to put smiles on the faces of Niger Deltans. At a young age he has built up a reputation as the most famous philanthropist in the Niger Delta. For the discerning, Chief Kestin Pondi is the Bill Gates of Niger Delta when viewed from the perspective of his life-saving philanthropy that transcends the Niger Delta region. With many more Kestins of philanthropy , Niger Delta would fare better in economic salvation and stability in the condition of living.

Genuine philanthropists anywhere on earth deserve awards because awards signal the fact that their philanthropic efforts are deeply appreciated by the society. Appreciation is the pathway to more philanthropic windfalls. Many lessons are learned when a philanthropist of Chief Pondi’s stature is given an award of recognition. A deserving award of recognition puts society on a progressive lane just as a meaningless award of recognition pushes a society to the path of retrogression.The award of recognition given to Chief Pondi on 28 August 2025 by the GBARAMATUVOICE in Abuja is one of the best awards so far because it reinforces a story everybody is familiar with – which is the story of Chief Kestin Pondi’s phenomenal philanthropy in the Niger Delta and beyond.

Specifically, for humanitarian service, people-centred leadership and lasting contributions to the peace, security and development of the Niger Delta, Chief Engr. Kestin Pondi was deservedly given award of recognition as Niger Delta Man of the Year. Memorable congratulations to High Chief Kestin Pondi, the Bill Gates of Niger Delta, on his recent award of recognition by the Gbaramatuvoice in Abuja!

• Dr. Ekanpou writes from Akparemogbene, Delta State