Attahiru Jega is the Special Adviser to the President on Livestock Development.

The condolence message was passed by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who attended the Janazah prayer for the late Hadiza Jega at the National Mosque, Abuja, on Sunday.

The president described Hajiya Hadiza as a woman of uncommon grace, character, and a strong anchor for Professor Jega as he navigated public life, including serving as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

President Tinubu also extolled her support for education and community development.

“Dear Professor Jega, it is with a heavy heart that I receive the news of the passing of your beloved wife of over 40 years. Hajiya was an exceptional woman. I mourn this painful loss with you and your family and pray that God Almighty grant her Aljannatul Firdaus. I stand with you and your family at this difficult time,” President Tinubu said.

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He described her as a dedicated patriot whose sterling public career reflected service, sacrifice, and commitment to national development.

The president said Bala Usman’s nearly three decades in public service offered enduring lessons in diligence and purpose-driven leadership.

He recalled her early years at the Bureau of Public Enterprises, where, even at a young age, she demonstrated exceptional clarity of vision and a firm grasp of the structural reforms needed to drive economic growth.

President Tinubu described her leadership and outstanding achievements at the Abuja Enterprise Agency and the Nigerian Ports Authority as defining milestones, noting that she broke barriers, raised standards, and strengthened accountability in public administration.

He also commended her political contributions, particularly her role in party organisation and institutional development within the All Progressives Congress, APC, which he said helped entrench internal processes, organisational effectiveness, excellence, and democratic values.

“In her current role as Special Adviser and Head of the CRDCU, Hadiza continues to distinguish herself as an astute public administrator through discipline, clear thinking, and a firm focus on results.

“Hadiza’s efforts have helped strengthen the governance framework, evidence-based performance, and enhanced the realisation of the Renewed Hope Agenda. I thank her for her single-minded commitment to our administration and national service.

“I pray for strength, wisdom, good health and grace for her to remain an inspiration to women, young people and emerging leaders across the country as she celebrates this landmark 50th birthday,” President Tinubu said.

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In a political landscape often dominated by noise, bluster, and the bare-knuckled theatrics of power, Hadiza Bala Usman has managed to stand out – gracefully yet forcefully. Her trajectory, from her early days working closely with former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, as his Chief of Staff, to her influential tenure at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and now as Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Policy Coordination, has been anything but ordinary. It is a journey marked by intellect, courage, administrative brilliance, and an uncommon poise that belies the toughness with which she confronts entrenched inefficiencies.

Those who encountered the 49-year old during her days with Nasir El-Rufai knew immediately that she was no ornament in public service. Rather she was a sure-footed strategist – sharp, meticulous, unafraid to speak truth to power, and even less afraid to roll up her sleeves. El-Rufai, himself famously impatient with mediocrity, found in her the perfect match: someone who could translate ideas into action and ensure that decisions were not just made but implemented with precision.

In Kaduna, she became a powerful force within a government that prized efficiency. Whether dealing with bureaucrats resistant to change or coordinating sensitive policy programs, Hadiza proved repeatedly that competence and courage were her defining traits. Her growing reputation for discipline and smart execution soon set the stage for a much bigger assignment.

When Hadiza Bala Usman was appointed Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority in 2016, sceptics whispered. A young woman at the helm of a notoriously tough and deeply political institution? Many expected her to be swallowed whole. What they did not expect was that she would confront the long-standing rot – fearlessly and frontally.

At the NPA, Hadiza’s tenure was defined by transparency reforms, digitalisation of key operations, improved revenue collection, and a deliberate effort to break the cartel-driven culture around port operations. She pushed for the adoption of the electronic call-up system in Lagos ports, reduced human interactions that fuel corruption, and insisted on accountability at levels the agency had not experienced in years.

Of course, such a shake-up was never going to be easy. She battled vested interests, political landmines, and the predictable pushback that attends any meaningful reform. Yet, through the turbulence, she remained consistent: firm, focused, and unwilling to retreat from what she believed was right for Nigeria’s maritime economy.

Her exit – the controversy, the rumours, the politics – may have made headlines, but even her fiercest critics quietly admit that the NPA of today is still operating on the scaffolding she built. Her reforms, though resisted, were never reversed. That, in government, is the ultimate compliment.

Today, as Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman once again sits at the table where Nigeria’s most consequential decisions are shaped. It is a role less flashy than managing the NPA but arguably more influential. It is also a role tailor-made for her strengths – strategy, coordination, discipline, and the ability to demand results without raising her voice.

Her job is to ensure that ministers and agencies deliver. And if Nigeria knows anything about Hadiza by now, it is that she is the last person one should assign to a position if the intention is to tolerate excuses or lethargy. With her at the centre of policy monitoring, ministries know someone is watching – methodically, professionally, and with data in hand.

What makes her story even more compelling is that she carries out her duties without the bluster that often accompanies political proximity. She works, delivers, and moves on – quietly, efficiently and beautifully.

Hadiza Bala Usman’s beauty is often remarked upon, but the real beauty – perhaps the one history will record with more urgency – is in her work: her discipline, her courage, her intellect, her refusal to be cowed by vested interests, and her capacity to reform deeply broken systems.

In a public sector littered with uneven performance and waste, her career is a study in what is possible when competence meets boldness. Whether beside El-Rufai (2015-2016), at the helm of the NPA (2016-2021), or working closely with President Tinubu (2023 till date), the Ahmadu Bello University and University of Leeds graduate has remained consistent in her approach: Nigeria must work, government must deliver, and excuses won’t be tolerated or entertained.

The beautiful works of Hadiza Bala Usman are therefore not just in her past – they are unfolding before us. And, if the past is any guide, then Nigeria is better for it.

*Arinze, FNGE, is the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine and author of important books like The CEO’s Bible 1 and 2, Anything and Everything Journalism, Success Is Not Served A La Carte, A Taste of Success, My Story of Many Colours, etc.

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The congratulatory message is contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga.

Seventeen-year-old Nafisa was named the overall best in English language skills; 15-year-old Rukayya emerged as the overall best in debate, while Hadiza clinched the outstanding talent award (gold medal).

President Tinubu commended the exceptional young Nigerians for the feat and affirmed that the nation’s future was much brighter with many of its youth as repositories of excellence.

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The president also commended the institutions of learning and stated that the accomplishments were a testament to the quality and potential of Nigeria’s education system as a nurturer of some of the world’s brightest minds.

President Tinubu said he believed that education was a critical element for national development; hence, his administration’s significant investment in the sector and the removal of financial barriers for indigent Nigerians seeking higher education through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND.

The president encouraged Nafisa, Rukayya, and Hadiza to remain steadfast in their studies and wished them continued success.

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Although the President Bola Tinubu government’s quest to convince Nigerians that it will make things better is still hanging in the balance, an initiative launched earlier this week has shown that the administration means business and has helped in assuaging the initial doubts of skeptics like me. For the first time, I see a government that wants to run the country with some private sector mindset, giving the impression that government business will be taken more seriously, which I hope will indeed be the case. Let me explain.

Before an employee accepts a role in any organisation, he/she must read through the job description or expectations for the role. To avoid any confusion, most employers spell out job expectations in black and white, and when an employee takes up such job offers it is because they are sure that they can meet the set deliverables. Some organisations even take it a step further by setting performance indicators for each deliverable, marking out a time when each indicator would be evaluated to see if the employee is making progress towards it or has achieved it. If any cases of non-performance or underperformance are found, appropriate interventions are deployed, from capacity building to mentoring to reprimands and in irredeemable cases, disengagement. On the other hand, if the employee has done well in meeting all deliverables, they are celebrated, promoted and/or rewarded with higher pay.

This strategy has helped many organisations achieve their goals and has increasingly become accepted worldwide as a way to monitor and evaluate employee performance. Non-profit organisations also deploy monitoring and evaluation as an essential tool for tracking their impact in the communities they serve.

Beyond corporate organisations, however, there is also a need to evaluate the performance of public office holders, in particular politicians. While they are not employed in the sense of what employment entails, they are elected and, in some cases, appointed, with the expectations to deliver on certain promises or goals. They are some sort of servants to the people with expectations that they will help government achieve its promises to the people.

And so, evaluating them will ensure that they carry out their duties with utmost dedication and efficiency which will help ensure a well-functioning economy. Recognising the need for monitoring and evaluating public office holders, some countries have introduced different evaluation tools and have as a result begun to enjoy improved delivery in the performance of their leaders.

Until recently, Nigeria was not concerned about having a defined process for evaluating the performance of its political leaders. Indeed, for over 62 years post-independence, political appointees did their work in a sort of bubble which shielded them from the blowback from their policies and agenda. This bubble meant some political appointees, in particular ministers, did not always put in their best in delivering on their jobs since they knew there would be no one to hold them accountable for their less than sterling performance. And if not for the efforts of civil society organisations like BudgIT, SERAP, EiE and others, who have been at the forefront of making Nigerians aware of the activities of politicians from the local to the federal level, many citizens would remain in a state of ignorance. BudgIT went as far as launching Tracka as a way of tracking service delivery across sectors of the Nigerian economy, and while this has yielded results in some sectors, there is still much more that can be gotten if there was a more robust platform widely available to citizens for them to share feedback and evaluate the performance of political leaders.

Which is why I was excited when I read about the launch of the Citizens’ Delivery Tracker App by the Central Delivery Coordinating Unit. The app will “provide citizens with information on priority projects, policies, and programmes of the Federal Government and enable them to give real-time feedback on their assessment of governments performance on the implementation of its policies, projects, and programmes from anywhere they are in the country”.

In addition to citizens, the app will also allow the presidency to fully monitor the performance of every ministry and minister to know who is delivering as expected and who is dropping the ball; and to know what interventions to deploy in such circumstances. This is in line with the performance bond President Tinubu made every minister sign last year. Like most employers, President Tinubu laid down the law that any minister found not performing would be shown the door.

And so, on Monday, 8 April 2024, the Central Delivery Coordinating Unit, led by Mrs Hadiza Bala-Usman, launched the Citizens’ Delivery Tracker. That made me glad!

My excitement stems from the numerous benefits I know would accrue from the tracker chief of which would be an improved service delivery from all ministries and ministers. This means that if the health minister performs as he should, then in a matter of time we will have a well-functioning health sector boasting fully equipped health facilities. We will also have the right number and quality of medical professionals in health institutions across the country and our medical practitioners will prefer to stay than ‘japa’ to foreign countries. It would mean that the proportion of Nigerians with health insurance would increase seeing that this is one of the metrics that will be measured.

The tracker will also lead to a revived agricultural sector that is able to provide food for citizens year-round while also embracing improved agricultural methods and practices.

Tracking the performance of the transportation ministry will result in an efficient transportation sector while evaluating the ministry of education will help to bring back the education sector from its state of near collapse. Essentially, the tracker will ensure no sector of the Nigerian economy will be neglected or will continue to suffer from poor service.

Another benefit of the tracker is that it will allow citizens to understand the eight priority areas, the ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) contributing to each priority and the deliverables from each MDA.  The tracker also has a column for projects of each MDA which will let the populace know the precise step or project each MDA is taking/embarking on to meet its set deliverables.

As a corollary to understanding each MDA better, the tracker will also spotlight the heads of each MDA so that citizens know who to hold responsible for an MDA’s underperformance. This would mean that ministers and heads of departments and agencies will have no place to hide if they do not meet set expectations.

The tracker will help to curb corruption and wastage. This is because by making a list of projects each MDA is expected to work on available to citizens, citizens can easily raise an alarm if they do not see any such project in their communities or if projects are being duplicated.

Of particular importance is the fact that the tracker will promote citizenship and lead to enhanced democracy. Citizenship in this case would mean an informed and engaged citizenry who is aware of what is happening in the country and who can be consulted and who can contribute to decisions that will affect them. This will result in a form of human-centred design/democratic/collaborative effort where the government and citizens can deliberate on the specific challenges facing a community/sector and where the government will ultimately be able to set up projects based on the inputs/recommendations from the citizens who know where the shoe is pinching them. This would greatly reduce the cases of creating projects that have no direct impact on citizens or that are not the right solutions to the problems of citizens.

To emphasise this further, there’s a story that is commonly cited in non-profit Monitoring and Evaluation circles about why it is important to involve the end-users of an intervention in its design. The story goes thus. A certain non-profit visited a community and noticed that the women there usually walked a long distance to fetch water. Thinking that this long distance was stressful for the women, the organisation decided to dig a well closer to the women’s homes. But they soon noticed an interesting thing. The well became filled with debris and all sorts of dirt, making it unusable. Thinking it was some sort of structural error, they dug another well and the same thing happened. They dug a third and it soon became filled with debris again. Exasperated, the non-profit decides to find out what was happening, and they consulted some of the women. To their greatest surprise the women confessed to being the ones responsible for filling the wells with debris. Why did they do this? Because walking a long distance to their original well actually gave them time to connect with friends, relax from the daily tedium of their lives and just have some personal time for themselves free from children, husbands, and other relatives. To say the non-profit’s executives were surprised would be an understatement, but they would have saved themselves the money and other resources deployed in building wells nearer home if they had asked the women what they needed.

And if we are being honest there are many examples of these kind of white elephant and redundant projects across Nigeria which would never have seen the light of day, and which do not benefit the masses because the government embarked on them without considering the pressing needs of the community they want to serve. This has always resulted in a huge wastage of resources that could have been better deployed elsewhere. However, this delivery tracker app will help in reducing such incidences because the citizens will have the opportunity to share their thoughts/comments and feedback on their needs and the best solutions to it. And they don’t have to be experts or other professionals before they can contribute, they only need to have lived experiences of a situation and realistic recommendations to combat the problems. Essentially, the tracker will help to give a voice to the voiceless. This will ultimately help in realising the goals of democracy being ‘a government of the people, by the people and for the people’.

The tracker will also help in putting an end to the culture of poor and under performance from appointed ministers. Instead of the previous lackadaisical attitude that some ministers show to their work because of the secrecy it is shrouded in, the publicity that the tracker gives means this will no longer continue. Rather, ministers will now be on their toes to ensure they please their employer by pleasing the masses they have been appointed to serve. To show that the citizens have been looking forward to this kind of innovation, less than 24 hours after its launch, there has been news of some citizens reporting/rating the performance of different ministers on the app. And if the Tinubu government keeps to its word, then such underperforming ministers and ministries will have to step up or get out.

Overall, if properly utilised, the Citizens’ Delivery Tracker App will mean Nigerians will no longer have to beg to get the necessities of life and have the proceeds of good governance that previous leaders and this government has promised.

This is because the app will help in no small way in ensuring that the 8Priority Areas of the Tinubu administration would not go the way of the numerous other economic plans that Nigerian leaders have introduced in yesteryears.

I dare say if past administrations had embraced the culture of setting key performance indicators and monitoring the delivery of the economic plans and agendas they introduced, they would have successfully executed the plans. In this regard, the current administration is visionary and have shown proactiveness, but it remains to be seen if this proactiveness would yield the expected returns to citizens.It would also be good to see more monitoring and evaluation efforts deployed to other political tiers and across states and local governments. This may be the citizens’ trump card to get elected officials to do their jobs.

*Oriyomi Anthony is a development professional, writer, and editor.

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Speaking at the closing session of the three-day Cabinet Retreat, on Friday in Abuja, the president said that his determination to ensure the active and direct participation of citizens in governance was unwavering.

He noted that all Nigerians must be given the opportunity to track and report on the implementation of projects across the country.

President Tinubu said he had asked his Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, to immediately reactivate the tracking system in a way that maximally leveraged cutting-edge digital innovation to provide real time oversight capability for the benefit of all Nigerians.

President Tinubu also redefined the priority areas of his administration as reform the economy to deliver sustained inclusive growth; strengthen national security for peace and prosperity; boost agriculture to achieve food security and unlock energy and natural resources for sustainable development.

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Others, he said, included to enhance infrastructure and transportation as enablers of growth; focus on education, health, and social investment as essential pillars of development; accelerate diversification through industrialization, digitization, creative arts, manufacturing and innovation, and improve governance for effective service delivery.

The president further implored all members of his cabinet to work very hard to meet the expectations of Nigerians.

“I want to reiterate that the Renewed Hope Agenda is about more than just economic growth. It is also about building a more just and equitable society for all Nigerians. It is about creating jobs, improving education and healthcare, and reducing poverty. It is about ensuring that all Nigerians have the opportunity to succeed.

“I know that we have a lot of work ahead of us, but I am confident we can achieve our goals. We have a strong team in place, and we are committed to working together to build a better future for Nigeria.

“Let me remind you that our people are not interested in excuses, political games, or procrastination. Neither am I. They are interested in tangible results. They seek solutions to the problems that have long plagued our great nation. The challenge before us demands that we must put aside personal ambitions and focus on adhering to the performance bond we have all signed up to on this day. These performance bonds represent a contract we must uphold,” the president said.

The president also emphasized the importance of data in governance, saying: “Data is the lifeblood of effective governance. It enables us to understand the challenges we face so that we can design and implement effective solutions as well as monitor and evaluate our progress. Without data, we are flying blind.”

The climax of the retreat was the signing of performance bonds by ministers and permanent secretaries alongside President Tinubu, who charged all implementing authorities to unfailingly demonstrate diligence, innovative thinking, commitment, and an unrelenting focus on results.

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If not for any other thing, Bala Usman has in the past four years, shown uncommon passion for the entrenchment of transparency and the prioritisation of national rather than class interests. If only for the hitherto untouchable forces that this lady has confronted and fought to a standstill, her re-appointment is not just worthy but an example of a nation’s appreciation of service.

It is in fact an interesting coincidence that the announcement of the renewal of her tenure came on the same day that a newspaper report indicated that Buhari may have finally decided to cancel the curious Secure Anchorage Area (SAA) operated by the Ocean Marine Solutions Limited (OMSL).

Bala Usman’s NPA, with the support of Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, spent most of the last one year showing why this SAA was illegal, scandalous and against the ease of doing business policy of the government.

In different interviews where she spoke about it, the NPA MD explained that with a charge of $2,000 for the first day and a $1,500 for subsequent days paid by every ship calling in the Nigerian waters to use the SAA, the cost of shipping in the country would escalate. What is worse, according to her is that these monies, which Thursday’s THISDAY report put at “over $70 million in the last 18 months” is neither remitted to government, nor accounted for!

If not for any other thing, Bala Usman has in the past four years, shown uncommon passion for the entrenchment of transparency and the prioritisation of national rather than class interests.

She argued further that the provision of security on the waterways as well as for vessels calling at the Ports remain the duty of the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). These agencies of government were increasingly getting the attention of government as it relates to the requirements to get their jobs done effectively and so there was no need to engage a private entity that would impose new charges on stakeholders, who will ultimately pass it onto the end user.

Bala Usman went as far as the National Assembly to defend the decision to scrap the SAA. Reports indicated that she was physically harassed at the end of the session at the Senate and most painfully, members of the National Assembly would eventually stay on the side of the SAA to the chagrin of many industry players. Recent event, which the THISDAY reports suggested may have influenced President Buhari’s decision to cancel the contract have however revealed what may have swung the legislators’ opinion in favour of OMSL and its patrons.

Here is what THISDAY says: “The ownership of the company had also become a subject of controversy between two business moguls, Captain Hosa Okunbor and Dr. Tunde Ayeni, last week with the latter alleging a grand design by the former to edge him out of the company.

“While Ayeni had dragged Okunbo to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged mismanagement, stealing and diversion of funds from OMSL, Okunbo in a press statement obtained by THISDAY said Ayeni was no longer a part of either OMSL or its associated companies as he resigned since in 2018 after selling all his shares.

“Ayeni among other sundry allegations had also accused Okunbor of using a whopping $18 million to peddle influence at the National Assembly and the presidency to ensure that the company continues to operate the contract despite the fact that OMSL had made over $70 million in the last 18 months without remitting any money to the federal government.” Wow! Whether the allegation of bribe is true or not, what seem to be obvious now, is that there is nothing personal about the insistence of the NPA on the cancellation of the SAA as Okunbo tried to insinuate during the last gubernatorial elections in Edo State.

Bala Usman has also been dogged in her position on the activities of Intels, another major player in the industry. Intels provides multiple services first as terminal operators and then as service boat operators to the NPA. The current leadership of the NPA has employed hitherto unseen courage in dealing with this maritime superpower since it assumed office.

First was the de-classification of ports terminals which removed the categorisation of some ports as strictly oil and gas. Until the de-classification oil and gas cargo could only berth in specific locations in Nigeria and this already caused a disaffection for which some terminal operators, namely Berger and LADOL already protested and were ready to go to court!   By that decision, the NPA ensured a level playing field for all operators in the port industry by removing all bottlenecks that hinder healthy competition in the industry.

I commend President Buhari for rewarding hard work and excellence in this case as an incentive that will encourage more people to give their all in the service to the country.

There is also the dispute on the alleged failure of Intels to remit monies accruing from service boat operations to the TSA as directed by the federal government. For this, the NPA has been at odds with Intels for the better part of the last four years and even though the latter has tried all sorts of blackmail, alleging that NPA action was motivated by politics. Bala Usman always insisted that there was nothing political about obeying the laws of the country and that no entity would be allowed to impose its will on Nigeria.

In several of her interviews that I have read or watched on television, Hajia Bala Usman says one thing that makes me pray that we have more people like her in public office is the commitment to ensuring that all third-party contracts with terms skewed against Nigeria’s interest are corrected. And even then, she shows that she isn’t interested in a government agency that cheats investors. She states in her interviews that reviewing these agreements must put measurable responsibility and sanctions on both parties, that is government and investors alike. What a way to assure investors of the safety of their ventures.

I have also heard her speak about her determination to leave behind a legacy of efficiency and transparency in the Ports. If she achieves that in addition to the noticeable efforts being made to increase traffic to the eastern ports, improve infrastructure in all port locations, ease traffic access into all the ports and ultimately develop deep seaports in the country, one can be sure that the port operations will not remain the same in Nigeria.

I commend President Buhari for rewarding hard work and excellence in this case as an incentive that will encourage more people to give their all in the service to the country. I wish Hajia Bala Usman an even more focused and successful new tenure.

*Oluwatoyin is a Lagos based public affairs analyst

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