The new managing director explained that she will run an open-door policy that entails listening to customers, importers, exporters and other agencies working at the ports to deliver world-class services.
The new Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala Usman, has taken over from her predecessor, promising fidelity to best practices and zero-tolerance for corruption.
Speaking in Lagos shortly after taking over, Ms. Usman said: “Everyone at the NPA has a role in promoting best practice in upholding governance standards and in delivering quality services. We will work hard, with integrity and with zero-tolerance for corruption."
Ms. Usman explained that the country's ports represent a critical artery of the economy, a status that makes it imperative for the operators to deliver services at the standards of the 21st century in support of President Muhammadu Buhari's agenda of economic diversity.
"We will strive for enhanced operating efficiencies to facilitate improved revenue generation and inflows into the national treasury," she said.
The new managing director explained that she will run an open-door policy that entails listening to customers, importers, exporters and other agencies working at the ports to deliver world-class services.
“We must work as a team, pursuing common goals with professionalism and diligence.
"We shall prioritize investment in primary equipment and infrastructure and services committed to by the NPA in the concession agreements to hasten clearance of imports and exports from the ports," she stated.
To function as effective regulators, Ms. Usman added, the NPA must commit to the highest standards of performance and cohesion and must uphold the most diligent work ethic and collective undertakings required to achieve results.
The daughter of the famous history teacher and public intellectual, the late Dr. Bala Usman, the new NPA boss was Chief of Staff to Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State before her appointment by President Buhari on 11 July. Ms. Usman had worked with Mr. El-Rufai when the latter was Director-General, Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) and later as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
The announcement of her appointment immediately sparked a wave of criticism, notably directed at her perceived lack of competence in the field she has been appointed and her role as a convener/initiator of the BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) campaign, an initiative set up to pressure the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, which had been languid, into rescuing over 200 female secondary school students abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in April, 2014.
The BBOG kept the pressure on Jonathan and attracted global attention to the school girls, a development that irritated supporters of the former president, who accused the movement of setting out to discredit Mr. Jonathan sufficiently for him to be defeated by Mr. Buhari.
This view was strengthened by Ms. Usman's membership of the All Progressives Alliance (APC), where she served as the administrative secretary of the Buhari Campaign Organization, member of the APC Elections Planning Committee, member APC Strategy Committee and director of finance at the El-Rufai Campaign Organization. Ms. Usman had responded to the allegation of being politically motivated by saying: "It was never about politics and/or political affiliations; it was about our shared humanity as human beings. As a mother, I have experienced the trauma of not knowing where my child is for a few minutes. Does it then surprise many why I would be moved to act on behalf of mothers who are yet to see their daughters for two weeks (at the time) and now over two years?"
This, however, did not get the critics off her back. The critics' conviction was strengthened by the eventual loss of vibrancy by BBOG after Mr. Buhari was elected. Where it once made pronouncements with a bang, the BBOG now speaks with a barely audible whisper.
Ms. Usman was reportedly nominated by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, in conjunction with Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai to man the NPA.
