Meeting pretty Hadiza Bala Usman for the first time, aside her smooth gap-toothed face, she will strike as intelligent and humble. Since her appointment as the managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza has earned a lot of people’s respect. She works hard, excelling, yet keeping it low profile. Listening to her during any chat, you cannot but love Hadiza for her self esteem. “People say they are surprised I am competent because I’m a Northern woman. It offends me. There are thousands of me, I just happened to get the opportunity,” she said.
Contrary to the rumour that has refused to fizzle out about her relationship with Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, the NPA boss, during a recent TV talk show described it as an over flogged story that has been on for awhile. “I am definitely not his girlfriend. The governor is my mentor and my boss. He has been very supportive of my career and the career of every other woman that has worked for him. As you are aware, Kaduna State is the first State in northern Nigeria that has an elected female deputy governor; so you can see he has that commitment having women in positions of authority, so that rumour is completely untrue.”
In 2015, Hadiza was appointed the Chief of Staff to El-Rufai, before accepting the responsibility to run one of the most critical revenue generating agencies of government and gateway to the nation’s economy as its managing director in 2016. She explained how she attained success in a male-dominated Industry. “I just always remain bold and confident, always be better than them (men) and always try to know more than they know,” she said. Of course, at 44, Hadiza remains one of the hottest bachelorettes in the country. She used to be married to Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi, an economic analyst, who served under late President Umar Musa Yar’adua as economic adviser. Together they have two boys.
