FG Confirms Hadiza Bala Usman’s Appointment 

as NPA’s New MD

Dele Ogbodo in Abuja
The federal government on Tuesday confirmed THISDAY’s exclusive story on the appointment of Hadiza Bala Usman as the new Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), effective Monday, July 11.

A statement by the Director, Public Affairs in the Ministry of Transportation, Mrs. Yetunde Shonaike, also said Mohammed Bello-Koko had been appointed executive director, finance; Prof. Idris Abubakar, executive director, engineering; and Sekonte Davies as executive director, marine operations.

Born in 1976 in Zaria, Kaduna State, Ms. Bala Usman has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU),
Zaria, and a post-graduate degree in Development Studies from the University of Leeds, UK.
She was until her appointment the chief of staff to the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai.

In another development, the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, has lamented the absence of a national transportation policy since the country attained independence in the 1960.
Speaking yesterday at a workshop organised by the ministry on road transport management and mass transit operations in the country in Abuja, he said the road system was bedevilled by a wide range of problems which required a multifaceted approach to resolve.

Amaechi, while commending the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and its counterparts in the states for doing great work on road design, however expressed concern that several states do not have urban road designs and those who claim to have them are hampered by obsolete policies.
He said the ministry had been complacent about developing a sound regulatory framework for the transportation industry, adding that it was work in progress.

He added: “The inability of successive governments to provide a nationally funded efficient mass transit system or a private sector-driven mass transit system, and better still, a PPP arrangement, is responsible for the continuous rise in individual road travel, the proliferation of commercial fleets of buses and the attendant consequences of insecurity and discomfort.”

In his remarks, the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Muhammad, said the government should as a matter of urgency put in place a framework that would encompass synergy among ministries and agencies for effective service delivery.
He said: “Very often in this country we do not give as much focus as we should on the organic link between the objectives, our strategies, processes, procedures and the results.

“One example I have always given is the power sector in Nigeria. But the truth is, I don’t know about now, but at the time I was in government, could anyone legitimately hold the power minister responsible for delivering power?
“PHCN was being privatised by the Bureau for Public Enterprises, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources is responsible for gas, regulation and pricing is done by the NERC, which is an independent body.”

According to him, there was need to have some framework for coordination, harmonisation, for a clear division of roles and responsibilities, and to ensure that everything is mainstreamed into one strategic objective.
“So whoever is responsible for any part of the transportation chain should have a forum where you come and coordinate,” he said.

At the workshop, the minister and emir used the occasion to settle the minor disagreement that reared its head recently when Sanusi disclosed that it was Amaechi who had leaked the letter he had written when he was governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to former President Goodluck Jonathan on the non-remittance of $49 billion by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the Federation Account.

The minister, who was the first to deliver his paper, said the former CBN governor used to be his friend, but the relationship had become strained recently, perhaps due to what he described as the retinue of people around the emir.

In an apparent show of camaraderie, Sanusi shook hands with Amaechi warmly and said: “I assure Rotimi Amaechi of my constant and sincere friendship as he continues to drive the Ministry of Transportation to greater heights.”