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Scorecard of private terminal operation in Nigeria five years on, the views of the chairman of Fivestar Logistics Ltd, Chief Musa Danjuma.

Chief Musa Danjuma is no stranger to Nigerian maritime trade. In fact, he is one of the foremost captains of the industry. A barrister by profession, he has featured more in Nigerian sea trade than at the courts. And for very good reasons. No one who oversees the sprawling Comet Group of companies (most of them maritime in nature) can afford to rather be engaged with jurisprudence.

Joining the family soon after his law school in the 1980s, he grew to take over effective supervision of the chain of companies from his elder brother, retired General T. Y. Danjuma, and, in addition, plays hard at the stock exchange. Therefore, when the younger Danjuma is not dealing in shipping, it would be a good bet to check out the stock markets and board meetings of blue-chip companies if you really need to catch up with him. But it’s not all rosy at the top. The last time he granted an interview to DDH, he confided in us that the trawling company in the group, Tarabaroz Nigeria Ltd, was in deep trouble because of the activities of pirates who chase down the fleet once they are steaming in deep waters and make away with their catch and all their possessions. Contrary to their hopes that the Nigerian Navy would checkmate them, the dare-devils descended to a new low: taking the lives of the seafarers after robbing them. When the play came to this turn, Danjuma said he was forced to sell off his fleet of trawlers and lie low in that sector for a while.

But the subject of this latest interaction is the fifth anniversary of private concessionaires in port terminal operation in Nigeria. It’s no longer news that Fivestar Logistics Ltd won the bid in 2006 to operate the Ro-Ro terminal at Tin Can Island Port in Lagos for fifteen years. For Danjuma this was a new challenge. The closest his company ever came to running a port facility was when Comet Shipping Agencies Ltd began operating container yards at the same Tin Can Island port in the mid-1980s, a stint the company kept up till the dawn of private terminal operation in Nigeria in 2006. On his feeling so far, the father of 8 said he feels fulfilled even though he has some expectation from the federal government. This is a no-holds-barred interview and, as he is known for concise speech, so he did here. He gives NPA kudos for dredging the terminal but he knocked them also for lethargy on the shameful inner port roads which are now clogs and death-traps.

DDH: Five years after running a concessioned port terminal at the Ro-Ro Port in Tin Can Island Port, what are your general feelings and observations as the Chairman of Five Star Logistics Limited, the Terminal Operator?

Chief Danjuma: Five years ago, the Federal Government of Nigeria saw the
need for port modernization through a port reform programme called port concession. The tenets of this reform programme provide for public ownership of port infrastructure and transfer of cargo operational responsibilities to the private sector as a means of improving efficiency and reducing cost to users and the Federal Government. The concession process led to the emergence of 25 private terminal operators amongst which Five Star Logistics Ltd. is opportuned to be one of the concessionaires to operate the lease of Ro-Ro terminal at Tin Can Island Port.

As the Chairman of Five Star Logistics Ltd., I feel fulfilled and happy that Five Star Logistics is able to lift up the Ro-Ro port development and infrastructure to a greater height with the use of modern equipment and cranes for discharging and stacking containers, well paved stacking areas for vehicles and modern warehouses for discharging of general cargoes. I feel elated that the safety of cargoes is guaranteed in our terminal with utmost efficiency to the consignees in line with the objectives of port reforms by the Federal Government.

My observations as the Chairman of Five Star Logistics are as follows:-

(1) Nigerian Ports Authority needs to be proactive to the yearnings and aspirations of the terminal operators in performing their own obligations as lessor such as maintenance of the berths and the quay aprons. Repairs and maintenance that need to be done must be done promptly for effective and efficient performance of the terminal operators.

(2) The dredging of the channel to the port is just being carried out recently towards the fifth year anniversary of the concession, this delay in carrying out the dredging has inhibited berthing of some vessels in our terminal that have a depth of 10.5 meters or deeper. In essence income that would have accrued to us have been diverted to other terminals; it also hindered our competitiveness.

(3) The road access to the port is very deplorable. Five years after the take-over of the ports, there has not been improvement in the road access to the ports. This has affected the movement of trucks to lift cargoes in the port and also increased the cost of doing services in the port, either by terminal operators hiring trailers to transfer consignments to their off-dock terminals or consignees hiring trucks to lift their consignments.

(4) It is observed that Customs examination and release is taking a longer time and brings congestion at the ports. If timely Customs examination and release within 24 hours could be achieved as widely publicized, it will go a long way to reduce congestion at the ports and quicken delivery of consignments to customers.

(5) The presence of some Government Agencies in the port apart from Nigerian Customs Services and essential Agencies is causing a lot of hindrances to the port reforms. Their presence and intervention in the release of cargo process is causing a lot of delay in service delivery and unnecessary additional cost of doing business.

DDH: You inherited parts of this terminal that were in poor operational state. How did you tackle the re-construction or repair of such sections as part of your development plan?

Chief Danjuma: Ro-Ro terminal is on lease to Five Star Logistics Ltd in order to make certain improvements to the lease property as further described in the development plan. It is true that parts of this terminal were in poor operational state, with near-decaying infrastructure, hectares of swampy land with overgrown weeds, failed sections of pavement and poor security network arising from the porous nature of the seaport. But these have now been refurbished to be an ultra-modern seaport terminal in the Nigerian ports industry which we are able to tackle with the help of God Almighty. First and foremost, finance is the bedrock of any organization. To embark on any meaningful development, funds must be available. Funds were made available by the shareholders as at when needed. The developments were done in phases in accordance with the development plan. Experienced personnel and contractors were employed at different developmental stages of the leased property. Funds were also made available on schedule to carry out various projects.

DDH: What are the major infrastructure developments that have been accomplished by your organization since the start of the concession programme?

Chief Danjuma: Much has been achieved by our organization since the start of the concession programme in line with the development plan which can be classified into civil development and moveable assets procurement. Civil developments carried out to date include: refurbishing of the Administration Building, refurbishing of the Custom Offices, installation of bore hole/water treatment plant, installation of CCTV system, electrification and lighting of the terminal, construction of new warehouses, construction of two power houses, construction of a clinic, construction of gate complex/pedestrian access and paving of stacking areas for containers and general cargoes. Also moveable assets such as cranes were purchased to facilitate discharge and loading of cargoes.

DDH: What other major achievements can you recall as having been made by your terminal since inception?

Chief Danjuma: Other major achievements we have made since the inception of the concession are as follows. We have been able to transform a former quack, dilapidated port to a modern port with well equipped machinery to meet the needs of our clients. The era of wharf rats has gone; our port is less porous and well secured; consignments are safe in our terminal. We achieve quick turn-around of vessels and quicker customer service delivery; we listen to customers when they have problems and always try to assist them as the case may be.

Since the inception of the concession, there was no trade dispute between us and our trade union, we are in partnership with our staff and we take them as valued partners. We are also socially responsive to our Apapa Community
where we operate by assisting in community developments projects. In recognition of our service, our terminal was awarded, “The Best Vehicles Handling Terminal Operator by NPA”. In the 2010, our company was also awarded “NIS ISO 9001:2008” by Standard Organization Of Nigeria in recognition of our Quality Management System.

DDH: What are the problems still subsisting and that should be tackled by the Federal Government or the NPA or other regulatory agencies?

Chief Danjuma: The immediate problem that needs to be addressed is access road to the ports. The roads are bad and almost impassable. There is need to address the road issue speedily by the Federal Government and NPA. The express road from Oshodi to Apapa is very bad and needs serious rehabilitation.
The repairs of berth 9 and cable ditch are still subsisting and nothing has been done by NPA to effect the repairs and this has a great economic impact on our company as it hinders us from maximizing our revenue.

Another problem is the issue of space inadequacy in our terminal compared with our scope of operation. We are presently making use of private off-dock terminals to supplement our own terminal. Although, we were allocated off-dock terminal at Kirikiri Lighter Terminal recently but it is not enough for our need. It will be highly appreciated if NPA or the Federal Gpvernment can allocate additional off-dock terminals to us to meet our present needs.

DDH: There is the constant allegation that more agencies than is necessary are operating in the ports. Do you still think so and which basic ones should remain while all the others should leave the ports?

Chief Danjuma: Yes the allegation that there are more agencies than necessary operating in the ports is true. Their presence is causing a lot of delay in the final delivery of goods to the consignees. The following agencies are presently in the port, Nigerian Customs, Immigration, SSS, NDLEA, Police CID, Port Health, Plant Quarantine, NAFDAC, Standard Organization of Nigeria, Directorate of Naval Intelligence, Veterinary Quarantine, Anti Bomb Squad and Federal Environmental Protection Agency. But in my own opinion, the following agencies should remain in the port, Nigerian Customs, Immigration, Port Health, NDLEA and NAFDAC. Other agencies should leave the port environment; it is only when necessary that they may be called to attend to specific issues.

DDH: As the Group Executive Chairman of the Comet Group of Companies, which includes Five Star Logistics Limited, how do you cope with the strain of coordination?

Chief Danjuma: Ability to cope with any situation is by the Grace of God, the Bible says “not by might nor by power, but by my spirit - saith the Lord of Hosts”. When one depends on God in everything, God will strengthen and grant all the enablement to succeed. It is the Lord’s doing, God is my strength. So, with the help of God and my able, energetic, dynamic, brilliant, Group Managing Director on the wheel, and with the gift of dedicated managers in all the companies, I have no stress in coordinating the affairs of these companies. We are also talented with hard working and understanding members of staff, they are assets to our companies.