Corporate Feminism in the Port 

By Kingsley Anaroke

“If you want something done ask a woman; if you want something said ask a man,” Margaret Thatcher 

The world has realised that the criteria or qualification for a job has no gender face and qualification doesn’t only have to do with experience or the requisite knowledge about a sector at a certain cadre of employment. This does not discount the role of experience in leadership.

But watching closely the developments in the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) since the emergence of the new management team led by Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman, can one conclude that Margaret Thatcher’s assertion is correct as expressed? This lady has begun to win the applause of many industry stakeholders and her managerial team as well as the rank and file at the NPA.

Only few industry veterans would have prioritised the leadership qualities, the eagerness to learn, the willingness to move from one level to another, and her commitment; ahead of her peripheral knowledge about the maritime and port sector.

Perhaps, it was the right time to allow someone who hasn’t always been in the maritime sector to head the NPA because this is a sector allegedly built around certain people. The introduction of someone coming from outside could easily beam the spotlight on certain things to see some of the things that those that are immersed in that industry may not have had the ability or willingness to see.

The NPA Managing Director sees her job as an opportunity to view the sector from a different prism which gives another view of the industry that may not have been seen and certain decisions can be made that people who have been entrenched in the system may not have had the will to challenge.

The status quo in the maritime industry is set for sweeping changes that should bring about the requisite transformation of the sector. This is because Hadiza sees her appointment as a tremendous task and trust by the federal government, so she intends to rise up to the occasion and deliver on the mandate.

The NPA couldn’t have wished for a better Managing Director than Bala-Usman whose traits as a Capricorn is in sync with the vision and mission of the Authority. These attributes are; enhancing efficiency, customer satisfaction, safety and security and among others to be very innovative and incredibly tough, with the right temperament to weather any storm.

Female Capricorns are characterized as responsible, disciplined and generally seen as good managers. Her appoitment may have provided a unique opportunity for her to display the unique qualities of a Capricorn in corporate governance.

Capricorn is practical and is considered to be the most serious sign of the zodiac, which possesses an independence that enables significant progress both on the personal level and in business. As an Earth sign, for a Capricorn there is nothing more important in life than family. Capricorn is a master of self-control and has the potential to be a great leader or manager as long as it is in the sphere of business.

 The effect of the self-serving attitude of most government leadership in the maritime trade and transportation sector may have led to most of the inconsistent trade policies in our industry. However, Hadiza’s emergence as the Managing Director of NPA is apparently blazing the trail to work with the critical stakeholders in order to achieve the set objectives of the government.

Modern day administration of such an organisation demands public-private partnership and stakeholders engagement; delegation of duty, power and authority to the subordinates with its residual powers to reverse negative decisions, taken at any time including supervision and control of actions taken on its behalf. Hadiza has shown that she can achieve all these and she has made history as the first NPA Managing Director to move out to confer with the freight forwarding organized groups in order to find the best way to overcome problems and have seamless operations at the ports.

“NAGAFF is touched by the visit of Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman to the Headquarters of NAGAFF as part of efforts to engage critical stakeholders in a dialogue with a view to partnering and finding solutions and returning our ports to their past glory,” NAGAFF said in a press release after Hadiza’s visit.

The National President of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu also admires Hadiza’s leadership thus:

“Unlike the previous Managing Directors of NPA, Hadiza brings a style that has won accolades. She is removing that toga that shrouds Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) as an association that just makes money and does nothing else,” Shittu says.

Hadiza has also initiated a maiden a quarterly meeting of stakeholders which would be an avenue for everyone to come together to assess what has been achieved, review the challenges and proffer solutions.

Shittu posits that the quarterly meetings coupled with her willingness to come down from her pinnacle of office to relate with stakeholders would ensure she is successful at NPA.

Hadiza is aware that there is also the weight of being a role model to younger girls. This is something that  she holds close to her heart as she wants young girls to look up and see that a girl-child has the ability to rise up to any position of authority. 

You only have to get into the headquarters of NPA to know that it is being managed by a woman as Hadiza has seen to its decoration and ensuring that little details such as the dress code of NPA workers, the arrangement and the premises of the NPA headquarters oozes feminine class.

NPA has a dress code and Hadiza insists that in every organisation workers are supposed to comply. She has mandated all women to adhere strictly to the dress code.

“There was an existing dress code at NPA and people might not have been complying so on assumption of office, I said that people need to comply with the dress code and every other rule that the organization has. 

Beyond that, it is important for people to dress formally when going to work, depending on the organization that you work for. Once there is a dress code, you should abide by it,” Hadiza said.

–Anaroke is the publisher of MMS Plus and writes from Lagos.