In a bid to overhaul the management and operations of the Nigerian Ports Authorities (NPA), President Buhari has appointed Mrs. Hadiza Bala Usman as the Managing Director. Drawing from reports, Mrs. Usman was promptly appointed following a recommendation from the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, to the president.
By this appointment, Bala Usman, a 40-year-old woman has become the first female Chief Executive of a top tier Federal Government agency and of the NPA. Ordinarily, one will applaud President Buhari on what seems like an effort towards inclusivity but, that’s not the case. Some are questioning his decision to appoint a relatively inexperienced individual to occupy such a pivotal position, thereby raising the issue of nepotism and questioning his objective of change.
According to reports by ThisDay, it is believed that Amaechi recommended Mrs. Usman, a northerner, to the president “on the grounds that two chief executives of the foremost parastatals under his ministry, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, and the Nigerian Railway Corporation, are from the south, and he would rather have an equitable distribution of appointments under his ministry.”
It is also alleged that President Buhari promptly considered Amaechi’s recommendation based on the relationship he had with Bala Usman’s father, late Professor Yusufu Bala Usman, a prominent academic, historian, and activist, and not necessarily out of merit.
Prior to her latest appointment, Bala Usman was the Chief of Staff to the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, and has worked under him for the most part of her career. After a year as a research assistant at her father’s NGO, the Centre for Democratic Development and Research Training, in Zaria, the graduate of Business Administration, and Development Studies has spent well over a decade working under el-Rufai; four years (2000 – 2004) at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) with el-Rufai as the Director-General of the agency, four years (2004 – 2008) as his Special Assistant on Project Implementation.
She served as the Director of Strategy of Good Governance Group, a non-governmental organisation founded by el-Rufai and a few colleagues, from 2011 -2015 and was appointed Chief of Staff in his government last year. Which of these positions qualify her to head a top tier government agency? “If we are to be honest with ourselves, a person with that credential is not qualified to handle a delicate task of managing our ports. Being a personal aide is entirely different from heading a very strategic agency like the NPA,” Mohammed Auta, a critic, wrote in The Nation.
Auta opines that the position of the Managing Director of NPA should have been advertised, have people apply, interviewed and or examined, and have the candidate with the highest score appointed. Nepotism, or “God-fatherism,” as we call it in Nigeria, is a responsible factor for the continued deterioration, and the stalled progress of governance in this country. President Buhari promised change and a crackdown on corruption, operating the same old practice of Nepotism supports neither. If anything, Nepotism is corruption.
Nigerians are tired of the status-quo; of the cycle of the same old irrational appointments carried out by past administrations. Change needs to begin from the top, the presidency, and trickle all the way down to the grassroots. President Buhari should adopt the leadership style of meritocracy, as opposed to blind appointments based on recommendation, association, or relationships. The question should always be, “Who can do the job, and who can do it best?” Having said this, can the presidency answer Nigerians this question, “Is Hadiza Bala Usman the best candidate for the job?”
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