Shettima to chair Bala-Usman at 50 governance colloquium

Vice President Kashim Shettima will tomorrow chair the maiden Hadiza Bala Usman Governance Colloquium in Abuja.

The event marks the 50th birthday anniversary of the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination and Head of the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit (CRDCU), Hadiza Bala Usman.

The high-level governance forum, scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, is expected to draw senior government officials, policy experts and private sector leaders to deliberate on leadership, accountability, and results-based governance in Nigeria’s public service.

Renowned public policy expert, Joe Abah, will deliver the keynote address on the theme: “Leadership, Delivery, and the Courage to Serve.”

According to the organisers, the keynote will set the tone for a robust interrogation of the discipline, institutional coherence and accountability required to sustain public sector performance.

The keynote address will be followed by a panel discussion featuring leading voices in policy formulation and institutional reform.

The panelists include Mr. Taiwo Oyedele (Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee), Dr. Muhammad Sani Abdullahi (Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, the Central Bank of Nigeria), Mr. Waziri Adio (Founder and Executive Director of Agora Policy and former Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

Also on the list of panelists are: Ms. Rinsola Abiola (Director-General of the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre) and Dr. Habiba Lawal (a retired Permanent Secretary and former Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination).

The planning committee said the colloquium would serve as a strategic platform to examine the dynamics of results-driven governance, sustainable institutional reform and the courage required to drive transformative change across Nigeria’s public sector.

Bala Usman was appointed Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination in June 2023 by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In her additional role as Head of the CRDCU, she coordinates government policies and tracks delivery of presidential priorities across ministries, departments and agencies.

She previously served as Chief of Staff to the Governor of Kaduna State under Nasir El-Rufai before former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed her as the first female Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), a position she held from July 2016 to February 2022.

Beyond public office, Bala Usman is a co-founder of the global #BringBackOurGirls movement, which mobilised international attention for the rescue of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls in 2014.

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