Hadiza Bala Usman

Biography

Bala Usman was born in Zaria to the historian, Yusufu Bala Usman. Bala Usman grew up close to the campus of Ahmadu Bello University, where her father worked. Bala Usman earned her bachelor's degree in 2000 from Ahmadu Bello University and her master's degree from the University of Leeds in 2009. She worked for a non-governmental organization, the Centre for Democratic Development and Research Training (CEDDERT) in Zaria as a research assistant for a year starting in 1999. She has also worked for the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and as a Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Project Implementation. In 2011, she worked as Director of Strategy for the Good Governance Group (3G). In 2015, she was appointed Chief of Staff for the Kaduna State Governor.

When Boko Haram kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls in 2014, Bala Usman began to protest, leading groups around Nigeria and in the kidnapped girls' hometown of Chibok. She noticed that the Nigerian government was not prioritizing the kidnapping of the schoolgirls. Because of this, Bala Usman started the campaign, #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG). Bala Usman chose the color red for the campaign because it is a sign of "alarm, danger, a warning." She has encouraged women "to keep the issue in the public eye." Bala Usman has also helped coordinate meetings with the parents of the kidnapped girls and members of the Nigerian government. Bala Usman has continued to protest with the BBOG campaign into 2016. She was also featured in Financial Times, and at CNN for her work with BBOG.

She was appointed as the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in July 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari. Her appointment generated a lot of controversies as many saw her nomination as ethnically based and questioned her qualification for the specific role.

Bala Usman is married to an economic analyst Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi who served under the former (Late) President Umaru Musa Yar'adua as economic adviser and together they have two boys.