Federal Government of Nigeria on Tuesday appointed Ms Hadiza Usman as Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Ms Hadiza Usman was born on Jan. 2, 1976 in Zaria, Kaduna State and has a B.Sc. Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU),
Zaria and a Post Graduate in Development Studies from University of Leeds, UK in 2009.
She worked at Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) from July 2000 to August 2004 as Enterprise Officer and hired by the UNDP for the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) from October 2004 to January 2008 as Special Assistant to the Minister on Project Implementation.
The new NPA boss, Sonaike added, worked as Director of Strategy of Good Governance Group, a Non-Governmental Organisation from 2011 to July 2015 and appointed as Chief of Staff to Gov. Ahmed El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State, a position she held until the present appointment.
She worked for a non-governmental organization, the Centre for Democratic Development and Research Training (CEDDERT) in Zaria as a research assistant for a year starting in 1999. She has also worked for the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and as a Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Project Implementation. In 2011, she worked as Director of Strategy for the Good Governance Group (3G). In 2015, she was appointed Chief of Staff for the Kaduna State Governor.
Hadiza Bala-Usman Former Chief of Staff to Governor of Kaduna State
When Boko Haram kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls in 2014, Bala Usman began to protest, leading groups around Nigeria and in the kidnapped girls’ hometown of Chibok. She noticed that the Nigerian government was not prioritizing the kidnapping of the schoolgirls. Because of this, Bala Usman started the campaign, #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG). Bala Usman chose the color red for the campaign because it is a sign of “alarm, danger, a warning.” She has encouraged women “to keep the issue in the public eye.” Bala Usman has also helped coordinate meetings with the parents of the kidnapped girls and members of the Nigerian government. Bala Usman has continued to protest with the BBOG campaign into 2016. She was also featured in Financial Times and at CNN for her work with BBOG.
Bala Usman is married to an economic analyst and together they have two boys.
CREDITS: WIKIPEDIA