Vice President Kashim Shettima is set to preside over a governance colloquium on Tuesday organised in celebration of the 50th birthday of the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Usman.
The programme, which will take place in Abuja, will include a keynote lecture by respected public policy specialist Joe Abah, who is expected to speak on the theme: “Leadership, Delivery, and the Courage to Serve.”
A statement issued on Sunday by Bala-Usman’s office noted that the event will also host a panel session focused on the discipline and accountability needed to maintain effective performance in the public sector.
The panelists include Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee; Dr. Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, Deputy Governor (Economic Policy) at the Central Bank of Nigeria; and Waziri Adio, founder and Executive Director of Agora Policy and former Executive Secretary of the National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
Other contributors are the Director-General of the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre, Rinsola Abiola, as well as retired Permanent Secretary and former Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, Dr. Habiba Lawal.
“The planning committee of the colloquium says the event will also serve as a strategic platform for senior government officials, policy experts, and private sector leaders to deliberate on the dynamics of results-based governance, sustainable institutional reform and the courage required to drive transformative change in Nigeria’s public service,” the statement said.
President Bola Tinubu appointed Usman as Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination in June 2023.
She also leads the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit, where she oversees policy alignment and drives the President’s delivery agenda across ministries and sectors.
Prior to her current appointment, Usman served as Chief of Staff to former Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai from 2015.
In July 2016, she was appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari as the first female Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, a role she occupied until February 2022.
Usman is also a co-founder of the global #BringBackOurGirls movement, launched in 2014 to draw international attention to the abduction of Chibok schoolgirls and campaign for their rescue.
