Hadiza Bala Usman Biography
Hadiza Bala Usman, a Nigerian politician, was the managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority from 2016 to 2021. She was born on 2 January 1976. From 2015 to 2016, she worked as the governor of Kaduna State’s chief of staff. In June 2023, she and Hannatu Musawa were chosen to serve as President Bola Tinubu’s special advisers on policy coordination.
She co-founded the Bring Back Our Girls movement in 2014 and was a founding member of the party in power, the All Progressives Congress.
Hadiza Bala Usman Early life and education
Hadiza Bala Usman was born on January 2, 1976 in Zaria to a Sullubawa clan of Fulani ruling class family. Her father, Yusufu Bala Usman, was a well-known intellectual and historian who was the grandson of Sarkin Katsina Muhammadu Katsina Dikko. Later, in Zaria, he established the Centre for Democratic Development, Research, and Training. Her paternal grandmother’s father, Abdullahi Bayero, was the 10th Emir of Kano from 1926 to 1953. Her paternal great-grandfather, Durbin Katsina, was the Emir of Katsina; her granduncle, Usman Nagogo, was the Emir of Katsina; and her great-great-grandfather, Sarkin Katsina Muhammadu Dikko, was the paternal grandfather.
Hadiza was raised on the Ahmadu Bello University campus in Zaria, where her father was employed. She began her studies at the elementary school for university personnel and continued on to finish high school. She enrolled in the university in 1996, and in 2000 she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. In 2009, she graduated with a master’s in development studies from the University of Leeds.
Hadiza Bala Usman Career
She worked as a research assistant for a year at the Centre for Democratic Development and Research Training in Zaria in 1999.
From July 2000 to August 2004, she was an enterprise officer at the Bureau of Public Enterprises. She was then employed by the UNDP for the Federal Capital Territory Administration from October 2004 to January 2008 as a special assistant to the Minister on project implementation.
Hadiza ran for office as a candidate for the Congress for Progressive Change in the federal district of Musawa/Matazu in 2011, but she was unsuccessful. From 2011 to July 2015, she was the country director of strategy for the non-governmental organization Good Governance Group in Nigeria.
Hadiza Bala Usman co-founded the Bring Back Our Girls campaign group in 2014 to call for the release of the abducted schoolgirls after realizing that the Jonathan government had not given the kidnapping by Boko Haram due priority. For the ad, she went with the color red because it symbolizes “alarm, danger, and a warning.” Meetings with the parents of the abducted girls and representatives of the Nigerian government have also been organized with assistance from Hadiza Bala Usman. She persisted in her protests alongside the organization throughout 2016.
After his victory in 2015, Kaduna State Governor Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai hired her as his chief of staff. In July 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari named her the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). Her appointment caused a lot of controversy because some people didn’t think she was qualified for the position because of her ethnicity.
President Muhammadu Buhari authorized her dismissal as the managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on May 6, 2021. President Buhari suspended Hadiza after she was recently reappointed for a second term due to how she was chosen for the position.
Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority
Hadiza Bala Usman graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria with a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Business Administration and from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom with a Master of Arts (MA) in Development Studies.
Hadiza Bala Usman worked for the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) before being named the first female managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in the organization’s 63-year history. She was then hired by the UNDP to work for the Federal Capital Territory Administration as an assistant to the minister on project implementation. Her extensive influence on these roles culminated in her nomination as the Executive Governor of Kaduna State’s Chief of Staff, making her the first woman to hold that position in that region of the country.
Bala Usman is the International Association of Ports and Harbours’ (IAPH) Vice President (African Region) and has won numerous accolades in the fields of governance, girls’ education, and women’s liberation. In order to position the NPA for the future of the global marine industry, she is currently pursuing an ambitious 25-year port development plan.
Hadiza Bala Usman Personal life
Hadiza Bala Usman was married to Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi, an economist who worked as Umaru Musa Yar’adua’s (late) economic adviser, and the couple has two sons.
Hadiza Bala Usman Recognition
She has received numerous awards for her accomplishments in the maritime industry as Queen of the Maritime and in Nigeria’s public service as one of the Under 50 Leaders in Public Service in 2021, when she shared the award with other notable women in public service for outstanding female executive in public service (Maritime).
What happened to Hadiza Bala Usman?
President Muhammadu Buhari authorized her dismissal as the managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on May 6, 2021. President Buhari suspended Hadiza, who was recently reappointed for a second term, due to how she was chosen for the position.
