I am sure that in the past few years the name Hadiza Bala Usman has been consistently ringing a bell. Her heritage of being the daughter of that fiery and popular Nigerian historian, Dr. Yusuf Bala Usman, who led several struggles for the emancipation of the downtrodden, is deeply rooted in the consciousness of the educated Nigerians and the ‘talakawas’ who were the beneficiaries of the giant’s unrelenting campaign for an egalitarian society throughout his lifetime. It is from this enviable heritage that Hadiza inherited her uncompromising tenacity and bruteness in standing by the truth. This reflected in her joint founding of the activist group “Bring Back Our Girls”, an emergency and timely response to the abduction of secondary school girls by the rudderless Boko Haram terrorist group in 2014. However, the best that younger Nigerians know about this enigma in her own right is that she was the first female managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority. Beyond this, most Nigerians seem not to be aware that Hadiza had, prior to the said appointment, served in various other private and public capacities without a blemish.
For this uninitiated class, let me share the profile of this icon. Hadiza was one-time Chief of Staff to the then Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El Rufai. She was and still is a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption. Earlier at a tender age, Hadiza served as chief executive officer of the Abuja Enterprise Agency. She had, at other times, served as Special Assistant on Physical Infrastructure and also Project Implementation to the then Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam El Rufai. All these came after rendering her service to the National Council on Privatization, Bureau of Public Enterprises. Outside the public service, Hadiza was, at a time, Senior Manager, Regulatory Affairs, Etisalat Mobile Nigeria, now 9 Mobile. Hadiza worked for the Centre for Democratic Development and Research Training (CEDDERT) and also as Director, Fund raising and Strategy, Good Governance Group (3G). Hadiza’s achievements in public service have been subject of commendations and approbations by several organizations among which is her mention among “Under 50 Leaders in Public Service in 2021” when she received the outstanding female executive in public service (Maritime) award alongside other prominent women in public service. I am sure you will be wondering what could be my mission in rendering the profile of this young woman and my ultimate destination.
The rationale for this excursion will be unveiled in the course of this engagement. Featuring this vibrant young lady in this column at this time has not been easy in view of the competing contemporary issues struggling for space in the column. In the last two weeks, after my intervention on the cost of governance as an albatross to the country, I have been struggling to engage in the decomposition of the Oronsaye Report, which implementation I consider to be the forerunner to addressing the cost of governance in the country and curbing wastages. I had hitherto stepped this down last week for the discourse on the suspended profligate former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele. This week, therefore, I had intended to resurrect the engagement, just for the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to be suspended. This again caught my attention, and I felt I should express my concern urgently on the emerging instability in the leadership of the Commission and the threat to the ‘fight’ against corruption that the country is ever since promoting.
As I was contemplating doing this, I got an interesting and provocative response to my earlier conversation on the unholy romance between the judiciary and the Executive, published a while ago in this column, which I believed deserved urgent revisit by way of rejoinder. It was in the midst of this confusion that I stumbled on a press release by Hadiza dated the 16th day of June, 2023 warning those that I consider as her detractors from further attempting to tarnish her well-earned reputation. This infuriated me as I felt that the goal of the attempt to malign her character in the news items that provoked her reaction, was not only to distract this young, focused, energetic and emerging leader, but in their calibration, to stop her from a possible and foreseeable political appointment in the nearest future.
The publication leading to the press release was not only reckless and irrational but equally libelous. Considering that in recent times, public servants with high sense of rectitude and commitment to posterity are becoming quite fewer than needed, it is important that we do not allow some egoistic elements to destroy the few that we have that are trying to replicate good records of public service we grew up in our younger days. It is out of this annoyance that I believe that I need to intervene by correctly portraying who Hadiza actually is. This birthed my prioritisation of this discourse over the competing ones alluded to above. Interestingly, as I was preparing the script, I stumbled on a news item announcing the appointment of Hadiza as a Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, a portfolio I regard as not likely to effectively exploit Hadiza’s humongous capacity. I won’t be surprised if higher responsibilities are added in the nearest future as this present appointment will constitute under-utilization of her incredible capability.
In any task assigned to her, you can be sure of delivery. This much her greatest critics will readily admit. The sudden appointment initially discouraged me from progressing with the write-up as I hate to be perceived as an opportunist but after ruminating over it overnight, I convinced myself I needed to proceed as I am not just struggling to know Hadiza or catch her fancy. She has been my friend for over a decade now to the knowledge of a sizeable number of people and I see no reason why I should, therefore, shy away from confessing this much and identifying with her at this crucial moment. Rather, I believe, at any risk, flaunting her friendship is a worthy commitment. Omo ti o see fi yangan ni (she’s worthy of being proud of).
The crux of this conversation is to dispel any insinuation that Hadiza will ever compromise her office. Hadiza, as I know her and can vouch, abhors any stain on her reputation. She avoids any act that is capable of tainting her personality. That explains why to every suggestion of impropriety on her person, she personally replies and addresses such issues. She hardly waits for any person to be her undertaker in that regard. Few Nigerians can take such risk of personally defending themselves against any allegation. The trend most times is to engage hirelings to execute such defense. For Hadiza, this is not the approach. It takes a person with a gut, and confident of herself, to do this. Her latest book, ‘Stepping on Toes’, attests to this fact. In the book, written to tell her story in office while serving as the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, tangentially in response to the spurious allegation of non-remittance of operating surplus in the sum of N165 billion by the Authority to the coffers of the Federal Government, Hadiza had the following to say as the basis of her tenacity to engage the detractors at all times. She asserted that apart from the duty of accountability owed to the public whom she serves, she remembers always the admonition of her late father that “his name was the only silver and gold he could bequeath on us.
He reiterated the importance of legacy and emphasized that an untarnished reputation remains the greatest legacy our generations could inherit”. This definitely further informed the press release that necessitated this intervention. It will be recalled that the premise upon which she was asked to step aside for investigation as the chief executive of the Nigerian Ports Authority was the issue of the non-remittance of funds. At the end of the investigation, the allegation was found to be baseless and frivolous. Rather than the allegation of the specific sum being proved, the investigation report unveiled the remittance of even higher sum of N182.99 billion.
As remarked earlier, in the publications that formed the basis of her response, there had been tacit suggestions of compromise of the office she occupied at the Ports Authority. This new wave of undeserved onslaught on the innocent performing lady is certainly not unconnected with the agitation for political appointments by politicians and the accompanying intrigues. It is obvious from the great contributions of Hadiza to the emergence of President Bola Tinubu that if anyone is deserving of ‘patronage’, it must be Hadiza.
She ranks amongst the first eleven in the comfort of the President. Hadiza is never desirous of any political office for personal aggrandizement but simply service. She has demonstrated this several times and committed same into writing in her book alluded to above when she said, “…there is something every one of us can do to make Nigeria a better nation for the present and future generations”. She continues: “In pursuing this noble aim, there will be adversity and adversaries, but if the principles of service to the people and loyalty to country guide our steps, we will do the best for our beloved country.”
What else do you need from an impressionable Nigerian than this? I am glad that Hadiza deemed it fit to document her story in the said book which I recommend strongly to anybody that still nurses any iota of doubt about the integrity and uprightness of this great achiever and is also desirous of learning public-spiritedness. In all her assignments so far, she has demonstrated the Midas touch. As I remarked elsewhere, Nigeria is a country where it is pertinent to always tell your story otherwise if written by a third party, you certainly will doubt your personality. Until the lion learns how to write, the story will always favour the hunter, so says the adage. In addition, I have always believed that the Nigerian society hardly appreciates any public servant, and the least a person can do in his own interest is to blow his own trumpet where and when necessary, otherwise the trumpet will go rusty.
As Chinua Achebe says, ‘the lizard that jumps from high iroko tree says if nobody praises him, he will praise himself.’ This is the Nigerian story. My admonition to Hadiza is to please ignore the detractors whose main goal is to distract her. Please continue to set your eyes on the ball as the sky is the beginning for you. You are eminently qualified as a leader in all ramifications. I know that the recent appointment is just a tip of the iceberg. Certainly, where God is taking you cannot be envisaged by any human being. Stop dignifying your detractors with any response. Silence, it is said, is golden, and is ever the best answer for a fool. You need to deny them the joy of their goals by not responding to their tantrums. Remember that God himself is derided and disparaged by His creatures. Hadiza is a valuable asset to the country and must never be allowed to be discounted nor denigrated.
The society and all men of goodwill owe the country the duty of solidarizing with the few good ones in our midst, as John Stuart Mill puts it, all it takes for a nation to decay is for the good people to keep quiet. We must not allow the stigmatization of the good ones in our society. Hadiza, as I know her, cannot be cowed but the society must equally be there for her. We certainly need to speak up for such conscientious leaders among us not because they are women but for the eternal injunction that the innocent must not be unjustly punished. Beyond human failings, which she admitted in the book, the good contributions of this worthy Nigerian must be acknowledged. Recalling this in her own words, “Not that I am infallible.
Like all human beings, I am very often prone to errors, but these are most often than not, honest mistakes to which I always own up and make amends”, Hadiza is truly a paragon of beauty, both inside and outside and a package of an elephantine brain. I am passionate about this defence due to the reality of the vanishing state of good people in our country. Towards encouraging Hadiza, I can only end this discourse by quoting from the book, ‘Do Not Be Sad’ by Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni thus: “You will always have to face criticism, which in its onslaught is like an interminable war: it shows no sign of ending. As long as you shine, give, produce, and have an effect upon others, then disapproval and condemnation will be your lot in life.”
My dear friend, continue to rise and shine.