Joyce Mmereole Okoli
The Executive Director, Operations and Technical, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, Capt. Warredi Enisuoh, has challenged Nigerian youths to stop waiting for jobs and start creating solutions that can generate businesses, employment and economic value.
Enisuoh made the call during a live interview with the Coordinator of the Maritime Writes Project (MWP), Ezinne Azunna, following his presentation at the 2026 MWP Creative Writing Bootcamp, where participants watched the engaging conversation.
The maritime security expert, who shared his remarkable journey from dreaming of becoming a pilot to becoming a ship captain, aviation professional and senior maritime security executive, urged young Nigerians to turn everyday challenges into opportunities.
Recounting the inspiration behind his career, Enisuoh said his childhood fascination with James Bond films fuelled his early interest in flying, travelling and adventure.
“As a young boy, I used to watch James Bond movies, and I was fascinated by the things he could do,” he recalled.
Although he initially aspired to become a pilot, financial constraints led him to study maritime courses at the then Nautical College of Nigeria, now the Maritime Academy of Nigeria.
“I didn’t even understand the meaning of nautical. I only knew aeronautical,” he said.
After discovering that marine engineers and deck officers worked aboard ships, he opted for navigation because of his ambition to become a ship captain.
But his dream of flying never disappeared.
While pursuing his maritime education and preparing for postgraduate studies in Australia, Enisuoh lost money he had lent to a friend who later died, putting his plans under severe financial pressure.
A chance discovery in a telephone directory eventually led him to a flight school, where he paid $50 for his first flying lesson.
“They asked me, ‘Do you like it?’ I said, ‘I love it. So, what next?’ But I had no money,” he recalled.
Undeterred, Enisuoh wrote letters across the world seeking financial support. His persistence eventually paid off when an individual provided him with $2,500, enabling him to pursue aviation training while continuing his maritime studies.
He relocated to a point between both schools, attending maritime classes in the mornings and flight training in the evenings.
Drawing from his experience, Enisuoh urged Nigerian youths to embrace collaboration, innovation and problem-solving instead of seeing one another as competitors.
He argued that Africa is rich in talented and intelligent people but must become better at combining individual strengths to achieve collective results.
“Individually, the African is more intelligent. But collectively, we are less.
“You must think of not competing amongst yourselves. Think of how to complement yourselves.”
According to him, young Nigerians should identify problems within their communities and develop practical solutions that can evolve into businesses and create employment, rather than waiting for government or private employers to provide jobs.
He pointed to innovation and education models in countries such as New Zealand and Singapore as examples of how young people can be encouraged to develop relevant skills and collaborate around emerging opportunities.
Enisuoh also emphasised the importance of digital literacy, describing computer knowledge as fundamental to almost every modern profession.
He linked his call for innovation to developments in Nigeria’s maritime security sector, citing Tantita’s new Command and Control platform as an example of technology being deployed to tackle complex national challenges.
During his bootcamp session, he disclosed that the platform enables the company to monitor pipeline assets and Nigeria’s entire maritime domain, demonstrating how technology can transform conventional approaches to surveillance and security.
He challenged the participants to apply the same innovative mindset to agriculture, security and other sectors facing persistent challenges.
Using agriculture as an example, he explained that technology could enable farmers to remotely monitor and control irrigation systems without being physically present on their farms.
“Think of a problem you know best, and find a solution to that problem,” he told the participants.
His journey from aspiring pilot and maritime student to ship captain, aviation professional and maritime security executive—provided a compelling real-life illustration of his message that persistence, creativity and determination can turn obstacles into opportunities.
For the MWP participants, the conversation reinforced a central lesson of the bootcamp: creativity becomes truly powerful when it is transformed into ideas, solutions, businesses and opportunities that improve society.