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By Steve Agbota, [email protected]
Captain Warredi Enisuoh, Executive Director, Operations and Technical at Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, has given an insight on how Nigeria ports across the country can be automated.
According to him, the best and cheaper way to achieve port automation in Nigeria is through greenfield development.
In a recent interview with DailySun, Enisuoh explained that port automation requires a very high level of superior reasoning.
“The legacy ports; Apapa Port and Tin Can Island Port, were built long ago, and non-port activities have since crowded the areas, necessitating massive and costly resettlement efforts, which could make automation more expensive than greenfield development.
“The best and the cheapest way to do it is greenfield or you embark on massive resettlement of people so that you’ll be able to clear areas to have a plan,” he explained.
He noted that if traffic congestion occurs outside the port gate, the automated systems inside the port terminals become useless, as the port and all the robots would be standing still.
He also spoke on carbon credits, impact of Dangote refinery and other maritime related issues.
What is your take on the automation of the Nigerian ports? Do you think we are there yet? What do you think needs to change?
It’s not impossible to automate the ports in Nigeria. But we have to have a very, very high level of superior thinking and superior reasoning. If you look at the ports that we have, they were built quite a long time ago. And for some, we’ve allowed even non-port activities to crowd the ports.
And all these people, or even infrastructure, wherever they would need to be resettled. And that’s going to take quite a lot of commitment, which may even make automation more expensive.
As you would have realized from my presentation, automation is in three stages: that is, the offshore, the yard automation, the terminal automation, and then the hinterland. And all of these need to be connected.
So the best way, if you look at it, the cheaper way to do it is greenfield, or you embark on massive resettlement of people so that you’ll be able to clear areas to have a plan. But even if you have massive resettlement, our roads are designed in such a way that sometimes they pass through cities.
And you wouldn’t want to take your cargo through crowded areas — areas that are going to have hold-ups. Because in automation, everywhere interlocks with each other and works interoperably; any delay in one particular section will definitely affect the other.
So if you have a hold-up outside of your gate, you’re automating the inside of the port where you’re having robots stack your cargo. What happens if your cargo cannot move out and leave the port freely? Your port and all the robots will be standing still. There’s nothing you can do about it.
So yes, we’re trying, but we still have a long way to go. But the best and easiest way to do it, as I said, is greenfield. And not just greenfield — I think it will be engaging the private sector.
You talked about greenfield. We have a port that was set up as a greenfield port, the Lekki Deep Sea Port. But some of these facilities you talked about, in terms of movement of cargoes out of the hinterland, are not there. What do you think should be done in that case?
Well, the possibility is that that’s one of the cases where you’re forced to resettle people. Maybe build more roads through places that are already residential. But you have to really entice the residents with very juicy offers so that they can move and live a better life elsewhere. That is not an impossible thing to do. It depends on how committed you want to be. But if you bring in the private sector to look into it, do a lot of research, definitely, there’s no doubt you’ll be able to achieve it. I mean, this is 2025. You’ll be able to achieve anything you want to achieve.
Sir, some time ago you talked about carbon credits, and the issue came up at the last international meeting. Can you give an update on where Nigeria is right now? And what should be done to keep this International Maritime Organisation (IMO) policy?
Nigeria has moved quite ahead. I think COP30 is coming up in Brazil now. And I think the Climate Change Commission in Nigeria has come up with a whole load of measures when it comes to this carbon credit matter. I think they put up a very, very big paper. I read some of it.
Probably I’ll refer you to read more of it to enlighten us. There are a whole lot of regulations involved in it. There are a whole lot of partnerships also involved in it. We have to take this thing to the commercial level, where the communities that are bound in these areas, which are going to do all the greenhouse gas offsets, will benefit from it. So, yes, the country is moving in the right direction — especially the government; the current administration is very, very fast with it. We have to commend them for that. The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done very, very well in that particular area. We need to support them because they need a lot of encouragement and technique. It’s a new thing that is coming up. And once new things come up, there’s always resistance because you don’t know how it works.
You’re a bit worried, but it’s a very easy thing. It’s something we want everyone to key into, especially the communities, because it’s even going to help us in the oil and gas sector.
It’s going to take people’s minds off pipelines because potentially they are rich when you have trees around you that are going to offset these things. But now we have to administratively take stock so that the communities can key in with the federal government to achieve a common purpose and common benefit for the country.
Some of our port quays are bad and have not been worked upon seriously in the last 20 years. Does that raise any alarm? What could happen from staying this long without efficient maintenance?
Well, definitely, any port that you don’t maintain will attract inefficiency. Not only will it attract inefficiency, but the private sector is always scared to carry out responses just because you are being reactionary. So those are the drawbacks. But nothing is impossible to achieve. The Nigerian Ports Authority is definitely on top of its game. I believe they would have come up with a whole lot of plans that are geared to address those issues.
The issue of transshipment of goods from Lagos. Lagos is congested presently and our roads are also congested. Why is it difficult to take vessels by barges or smaller crafts to other parts of the country? Is it security?
There are a lot of things. I don’t want to speak for NPA, but I’m just going to talk in terms of how maritime works. Yes, moving cargo by sea is definitely the cheapest way to do it because of, how do I put it, the cost of heavy fuel oil and all of that. But then, if you’re going to move cargo by sea, you also have to think of where you’re moving it to next.
What is your break-even point, depending on the draft or the depth of the water in the area you are going to go to? Do you want to take two containers and keep your ship light so that you can pass through a river? Or do you want to take 100 and then get stuck at the mouth of the river because your boat cannot enter? So there are a whole lot of feasibility studies you need to do. I remember at one particular point in time along the River Niger, because of insecurity, you were not even allowed to move after 6 p.m. So which means if you are going to move cargo, I don’t know whether that particular ban has been lifted; I’m not too sure. But if you’re going to move cargo from Lagos through the River Niger up to Onitsha or somewhere, you have to now make sure that you have points where you will have to stop and anchor to meet that particular requirement that you are not allowed to sail at night.
How well are your waters charted? Do you have accurate maps? Do you have accurate biometric data to know that you’re not going to run aground based on your draft or on your ship’s condition? I believe maybe it is something that NIWA, NPA, and Shippers Council will need to examine, and probably bring in the private sector to carry out extensive research on how this can be done.
There might be areas you may need to dredge. You need buoy systems that are going to guide those rivers for safe navigation, not just because you locally understand the situation. So, no, these things are there; it’s quite a lot.
Since the Dangote Refinery came onboard, and when you have this operation going on in the Niger Delta, protecting the pipelines and all that, how has the Dangote refinery impacted on the operations of Tantita since the commencement of operations? Has it reduced pipeline vandalism, things like that?
Well, if you ask me, the level of pipeline vandalism has reduced drastically. It is not solely because there is a refinery or whether there is no refinery. It’s not just solely because of that; there are a whole lot of factors. Government security forces have been very, very supportive — that is number one.
The previous administration and the current administration have been very supportive. Awareness is very great now, because if you remember, before the previous administration came into being on this particular project, oil theft was high, but the public did not know the extent of the damage.
But now, even the public also calls us when things are going wrong.
So you see, the credit goes across the board. That’s number one. Two, the socioeconomic condition of the region has also improved. So yes, Dangote refinery has employed quite a lot of people; that has its own effect downstream somewhere. But even within the Niger Delta, there’s been a massive improvement in socioeconomic activity. In fact, when I moved to Niger Delta, I’m just giving you my own personal experience. When I moved to the Niger Delta because of this project, it was a very unsafe environment back at that time. But now, you find people jogging at 2 a.m. if they so wish, and nobody is disturbing them. The security forces are well on alert. That is number one. People are beginning to have things to do. The project has created over 200,000 jobs. And you know, if you have 200,000 people employed across various sectors, you know how many families you’re going to take out of poverty. So that’s why we continue to give credit to the current administration and the previous administration that made that bold decision that this project should continue.
