Hadiza Bala-Usman: ‘Stepping On Toes’ and a Test of Popularity

The memoirs of former Managing Director of the Nigerian Port Authority, Hadiza Bala Usman, titled ‘Steping on Toes: My Odyssey at the Nigerian Ports Authority’, was unveiled in Abuja last week. In this report, Raheem Akingbolu writes about the glitz that heralded the event and how it positively re-established the author as a chip off the old block.

Book readings and other intellectual engagements are not new to the management of Rovingheights bookstore in Garki, Abuja. However, the event of Saturday, April 29th, wowed not only the store owners but most people in the ever-busy mall. It was an occasion specially designed for the delectable former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala Usman, who was in the house to read a portion from her memoir, “Stepping on Toes: My Odyssey at the Nigerian Ports Authority.”

Guests, including the Vice President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima; former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN); former Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Dr Danladi Bako; daughter of the late Chief of Staff to the President, Aisha Abba-Kyari, and a host of others spoke glowingly of a woman they have all known to be upright, brilliant, and patriotic to a fault.

In his remarks, Shettima, who disclosed that he was a regular customer at the bookstore, commended the author for her diligence in putting the memoir together. He also called on Nigerians to imbibe the culture of reading, which, according to him, brightens the heart and brings the best out of every individual.

“The management of this store can testify to the fact that I am a regular face here who often comes or sends a list of books for myself and friends. I believe in books because a good leader must be a good reader. Sadly, the culture is fast eroding, and I want to appeal to Nigerians to reawaken the era of book reading. With this from our sister, Hadiza, I do not doubt that she has provided another opportunity for us all to widen our knowledge about administration and governance,” Shettima said.

In his remarks, Bako paid tribute to Hadiza’s late father, Dr Yusuf Bala Usman, and said the author has again demonstrated the panache, comportment, and never-say-die spirit of her late father. He described the late social critic as a forthright man who lived and died for what he believed in.

“I am not surprised that Hadiza is setting the pace in governance and administration because she is a chip off the old block. I congratulate her and commend her effort in various offices where she has served the nation and which has equipped her to share her thoughts about leadership,” Dr Bako said.

Speaking on what informed the publication of the 17 chapters of the 196-page book, Ms Bala Usman said it was “a token of the spirit to always render account with which I was raised. I wanted to share my experience at the NPA and give insight into some of the controversial issues that came up during my tenure.”

She admitted that she was fallible but had to put the book together to recount the modest efforts her team made to turn things around at the NPA. Though she agreed that there is still much to do to actualize the enormous potential of the sector, she quickly added that industry players testified to the honest strides the management she led made in those five years

“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,” she stated in the book.

However, there was a palpable silence in the store when the former NPA chief touched on a portion of the book which speaks to the undercurrents of what happened between her and her former boss, the former Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi. She accused Amaechi of rooting for her removal from office in February 2022 because she failed to lavish him with favours, pointing out that the long years spent by the former minister on the corridor of power had affected him so much that he expected gifts from every Dick, Tom, and Harry.

Reacting to a question that bothers her claim in the book that Amaechi told one of the concerned people who wanted to intercede on her behalf that part of why he (Amaechi) wanted her out of NPA was because she was selfish, Ms Bala Usman said, “Having spent many years in government, Mr Amaechi’s entitlement mentality made him think everybody must patronize him. As I painted in the book, he told one of the people who intervened that I did nothing for him from NPA and never even gave him a birthday gift.”

In May 2021, Ms Bala Usman was suspended from office following allegations of the NPA’s non-remittance of about N165bn operating surpluses into the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account of the federation. The suspension orders, approved by President Muhammadu Buhari, followed a request for the probe of the accounts of the NPA made by Mr Amaechi.

The minister subsequently set up an administrative panel of inquiry to investigate the affairs of the NPA, including awards of contracts from 2016 to May 2021. But beyond the probe and allegations levied against her, the former NPA boss said the minister had made up his mind to get rid of her regardless of how anybody tried to convince him (Amaechi) about her record of service. 

Ms Bala Usman disclosed in the book how interest groups, leaders of the All Progressive Congress (APC), and Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd), also made efforts to resolve the issue by intervening at various levels

“The governors’ team met with the Minister to discuss a resolution of the matter. He insisted that my management of the NPA had to be investigated because of the amount unremitted to the CFR (Consolidated Federation Revenue). He even tried to sway the governors’ resolve by suggesting to them that the budget of the NPA was bigger than most of their state budgets, so they shouldn’t bother about me.

When the governors persisted, he told them that the matter was no longer within his purview and that they may need to approach the Head of Service of the Federation.

She said in the book, “He told another person who tried to intervene that I was so selfish that I did nothing for him from the Nigerian Ports Authority, and never even gave him a birthday present!”

Giving further details in the book on the calculated attempt made by Mr Amaechi to embarrass her, she stated, “Unknown to me, in his determination to get me out of office, Mr Amaechi had been fishing for a couple of months. In his desperation, he had approached the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr Ben Akabueze, and obtained details of the NPA’s operating surpluses upon which he concluded that a huge sum of money was unremitted.”

Sharing his thoughts about the epochal event, the Chief Executive Officer of the bookstore, Adedotun Eyinade, commended Ms Bala Usman’s ability to recall all the details of her days in office and recommended the book to Nigerians as a well-researched publication that would guide public officers and scholars.

“This is not the first time we are hosting this type of gathering, but I must confess that this particular one is top-notch with quality attendance and brilliant contributions,” Eyinade added