President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday jolted many maritime industry operators as he approved the appointment of Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman as the new Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). She replaces Habib Abdullahi who was sacked for the second time from the position.
Abdullahi, who was first appointed NPA Managing Director on July 25, 2012, was sacked by then President Goodluck Jonathan on April 29, 2015. He was reinstated by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 13, 2015.
Director of Press of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Mrs Yetunde Sonaike, in a press release sent to SHIPS & PORTS DAILY yesterday, confirmed Usman’s appointment. She is the first female Managing Director of NPA.
Sonaike also said the President approved the appointment of three new Executive Directors for the NPA. They are Mohammed Bello-Koko (Finance); Prof. Idris Abubakar (Engineering) and Dr. Sekonte Davies (Marine Operations).
The appointments took effect from Monday 11th July 2016.
The new NPA MD was an active member of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaign – the group advocating for release of the abducted Chibok girls. She is also an active member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Hadiza Bala Usman was born on 2nd January 1976 in Zaria, Kaduna State.
She holds a B.Sc. Degree in Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and a Post Graduate in Development Studies from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom in 2009.
She started her Career with Centre for Democratic Development and Research Training (CEDDERT) Zaria, a Non-Governmental Organization in June 2000 as a Research Assistant.
She worked at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) from July 2000 to August 2004 as an Enterprise Officer.
She was hired by the UNDP for the Federal capital Territory Administration (FCTA) from October 2004 to January 2008 as a Special Assistant to the Minister on Project Implementation. She worked as Director of Strategy of Good Governance Group, a Non-Governmental Organisation from 2011 to July 2015.
From July 2015, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman was appointed as Chief of Staff to the Governor of Kaduna State, a position she held until her present appointment.
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