By Owei Lakemfa
HADIZA Bala Usman, politician and social activist, was until last Thursday, May 6, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA. But on that day, President Muhammadu Buhari yanked her off and ordered an investigation of her stewardship in the agency. As in almost all such cases, the report of the investigation may never not see the light of day. Usually, such investigations are to keep the concerned official quiet while the report will be kept handy, in case the need arises to descend on such officials. In Nigeria’s dog-eat-dog system, the father can devour the daughter and life will simply go on.
However, I am more inclined to sympathise with her because in my analysis, she was built to fail; the job given her was a technical, not political one.
The mandate of the NPA is to develop, own and operate ports and harbours, provide safe and navigable channel, offer cargo handling and storage services, maintain port facilities and equipment, ensure safety and security and develop and own property. The agency is involved directly in, or supervising cargo handling, stevedoring, warehousing and delivery, acquisition of cargo handling and operations related equipment, development and maintenance of ports’ superstructure, maintenance of safety and security within the terminal, towage, mooring, bunkering, ship chandelling and ship repairs. These are core technical jobs, not job for the boys or girls.
To head such a technical octopus organisation, Usman came with a first degree in Business Administration and a second in Development Studies. Her work experience was mainly in the Non-Governmental Organisation, NGO, world. She began work in 1999 as a Research Assistant in the Democratic Development and Research Training Centre established by her father, professor Bala Usman.
Then as Enterprise Officer with the Bureau of Public Enterprises from July 2000 to August 2004. From October 2004 to January 2008, She was Special Assistant, Project Implementation to the Federal Capital Minister, and was from 2011 to July 2015, Director of Strategy of the NGO, Good Governance Group for Nigeria when she was appointed Chief of Staff to the Governor of Kaduna State. The following year, she was handed the NPA post.
So, with no requisite technical knowledge or competence and insufficient managerial experience, she was placed at the apex of the NPA and made to run the agency even before learning how to crawl. It was like placing the head of an elephant on a child’s head to carry. That was what the Buhari administration did to poor Hadiza.
Given the circumstances and the mindset, her performance was bound to be controversial. To me, her most controversial steps and decisions evolve around a dispute between an indigenous company and a foreign contractor who had entered into a partnership on a project.
The Federal Government had in 2006 leased a Free Zone land to the company. But the contractor had in 2017 approached the NPA for direct deals, thereby bypassing the Nigerian company. However, the NPA under Usman, in a November 6, 2017 letter, advised the foreigners to channel their applications through the Nigerian company which had the land lease.
On November 26, 2018, President Buhari approved a new 25-year Presidential lease of the land to the Nigerian company. This was conveyed to the company by the parent Ministry of Transport, while the NPA under Usman…
