Otunba Femi Adewunmi is the managing director/CEO of PrimePort Logistics, a cargo service company. In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE, he speaks on how PrimePort has grown to become a globally recognized company in the space of six years, clinching multi-million dollar contracts; riding on virtues of integrity, transparency and professionalism. He also hints on how Nigeria is working.
The aviation industry is growing at a pace that people never expected, especially with the impacts of COVID-19. Private sectors are getting airport contracts and some allege that people getting some of these contracts are getting ‘under the table’ contract; in order words, giving something in exchange for another. What is your opinion as a key player in the private sector?
For me, our own experience is very different and what we have discovered is that you can experience what you want to experience. Your mind-set is very important. For us, what we have experienced since we entered the industry six years ago is that things are working here in Port Harcourt and in Nigeria as a whole.
When we started, people kept talking about barriers and challenges in the industry but we never experienced those barriers. We were focused on building our own structure and Journey by getting all the certifications necessary to be compliant and different from the rest. As an example, we were being advised to use so called consultants to register to get our DPR permit and be on NIPEX platform – we refused and decided to follow the online process, and guess what! We achieved them without spending a dime. We do things the right way and get results. So, for me, things are working. We don’t see this corruption that everybody is talking about and that is the honest truth. If we have all your documents, nobody challenges anything. We select the kind of jobs that we do. Some start up with good intent but eventually, societal and cultural thinking begins to start taking over mind and as a result, they start cutting corners and dropping their standards. For us, when we started, we saw PrimePort Logistics as a vehicle to become successful and this worked because we built value into the company by doing the right things, investing rightly and putting money back into the business. It is about building assets (value), rather than just building a business. These have guided our trajectory and the way we operate. All we did was to put all we needed to do in place so we can bid and win by ourselves. We work to win. You crawl, walk and then run. We do not win in a rush. Slow and steady, as they say, eventually prevails
You recently signed a $30 million contract. Could you tell us about it?
It’s very simple – good and best practices eventually win. It might take time but eventually it will come, just be prepared and have the right mind set, structure and invest in best practise service. Honestly it’s that simple. Don’t cut corners, don’t use friends or “connections”, and don’t pay your way. Just build and it will come. Our successes are based on these simple principles.
For example, this contract is with SHELL and we didn’t see (face to face), we didn’t consult anyone nor did we spend a dim or promised a dim. This contract was won purely on merit and by doing the right thing with verifiable evidence based documentation (over 60 companies bided via NIPEX) – they are not something you can acquire overnight through deception and shortcuts, you would have acquired them through your behaviour and mindset from day you started your business – So, please don’t tell me Nigeria is not working! (I am a Nigerian so are the people inside SHELL)
And by the way, this is not the only contract we won clean. Exactly the same thing happened with TOTAL E&P and NNLG. This could be hard to believe but it is absolutely true. Port Harcourt is working, and so is Nigeria, trust me! Nigeria works the way you want it to work, I have so many examples and in every sphere of my life and business.
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What does this contract entail and did you see this coming?
These are Logistics (clearing & forwarding) contracts. We had already built our capacity and all the structures on ground. We set up ourselves to make these things happen. We knew it was going to happen one day, so we made all the necessary investments in anticipation and as I said, it’s a mindset thing (Good and best practise always prevails). I can tell you what will happen to PrimePort in the next five years, because we have a simple pathway and we stick to it. We have all the relationships both locally and internationally. We have the right vehicles to ship these things once they are cleared; we have positioned our offices close to where we operate which are the airports and seaports. We are very proud of the belief we have in Nigeria and it is working. I lived in the UK for many years and moved to PH in 2008 and all I see are improvements on all the indices of standard of life, roads are better, water is better and electricity is better, you name it. In Nigeria, we have a culture of exaggeration and only see and concentrate on problems. I have lived in PH for 12 years and I have never seen violence before. Your security involves how you behave to people around you, your mind-set, and your relationship with people and most especially how you treat and take care of them. Our progress and growth are visible to everyone around us. PrimePort has over 30 directly employed staff (all engaged locally) and over an additional 50 indirect people. The way you behave towards your staff and those around you, is a reflection of who you are. We all should play our own parts. If you want to be safe, be transparent. If people know you are legitimate and adding value to society, no one will kidnap you – simple!
Some stakeholders are suggesting that for airlines to cushion the effect of reduced passenger traffic as a result of COVID-19, they will need to convert some passenger aircraft to cargo aircraft. What is your opinion on this?
Every business proposition must be solving a problem. If an airline decides to do cargo instead of passenger flights, what problem are they trying to solve? Do they have excess cargo that they cannot carry? They are under utilisation and they are thinking of diverting to cargo – excuse me. They should focus on building passenger patronage instead of running from it – that’s where the problem is for now! Cargo will naturally follow passengers that needs optimising
What role do you think the government can play in making our airports and ports better?
It is not the government that is putting touts at the sea ports nor is it the government that is parading touts at our airports. Government is not the one extorting money from people and engaging in bribery and corruption, it is people, my neighbour, your neighbour, my friend, your friend. There is nothing else the government can do – Government is us. Governments are people. When people say government, it’s a diversion from people or us. For me, the problem with government is the same problem with people. We are going through a correction period, unfortunately things are catching up with people that have had it easy with nepotism, corruption, connections, lazy easy life – honestly, those are the majority that are being left behind
Last year you were given an award by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) as ‘Best supporting Company at the Airport,’ how do you hope to sustain this award?
We don’t do things because we want to win awards. We appreciate recognition, it shows we are doing our part as Nigerians and we will continue to do that, the whole idea is to see how we can make a difference to our customers and the industry as a whole. We are always trying to set standards by pursuing our business goals, which will invariably impact the sector and industry. Quite simple actually, take professionalism to where it is needed, for us it’s clearing and forwarding, the same way ABC brought professionalism to the transport industry. Same way the Lebanese brought professionalism to mechanics. Transparency, integrity and consistency are very simple things that set you apart.
How has PrimePort Logistics been able to automate some of its systems to be able to suit the new normal brought about by COVID-19?
Forwarding and clearing are basic processes. A lot of things have been automated. The documentation and face-to-face interface have been automated. We use more ICT to generate and send documents. So, things are now scanned rather than physically handing over documents. We see all these changing but for us, we just automated our interactions within our branches and at the head office. We attend a lot of meetings online. And our phones have now become our treasure – every single staff now has a smartphone on the company account.
