Hadiza Bala Usman
Hadiza Bala Usman (Photo: The Trent)

Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Ms Hadiza Bala Usman as the new Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority. The appointment announced today came as a surprise to many Nigerians as Ms Usman has no history of working anywhere near port administration or maritime business.

Hadiza Bala Usman came into limelight in 2014 following the abduction of the Chibok girls by Boko Haram jihadists and the launch of the Bring Back Our Girls Campaign in which she is a leader. In July last year, Buhari’s close political associate and Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai made her his Chief of Staff, a position she held until today.

Born on January 2, 1976 in Zaria, she is a graduate of Business Administration of the Ahmadu Bello University. She also attended the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom where she read Development Studies.

Her working life began as a Research Assistant at the Centre for Democratic Development and Research Training (CEDDERT) in Zaria which is an NGO. She worked as Enterprise Officer at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) from 2000 to 2004. She was made Special Assistant to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory on Project Implementation (2004 to 2008.) She also worked as Director of Strategy for an NGO called Good Governance Group from 2011 to 2015 when she was appointed Chief of Staff by Governor El-Rufai.

Also appointed onto the top management of the NPA are Mr Mohammed Bello-Koko as Executive Director, Finance; Prof. Idris Abubakar as Executive Director,  Engineering and Dr Sekonte Davies as Executive Director (Marine Operations).