Fighting corruption requires stepping on toes

After reading the book, Stepping on Toes: My Odyssey at the Nigerian Ports Authority, written by the former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman, I could not help the nudging feeling of triumph at how, finally, sunshine emerges in the horizon of national rejuvenation.

In a country grappling with challenges of declining institutional memory and opaque governance, the book – chronicling her 60-month stewardship at the country’s top blue economy institution – is both an educational resource and timely exposé with the potential to trigger a positive revolution in the country’s bureaucratic ecosystem.

Chronicled, step by step, in the seventeen chapters is the meandering path of a trailblazer, who found herself thrown into a world that was not kind to the feminine kind, as the first female Chief of Staff to the governor of Kaduna State, and then as the first MD of the NPA in its first 61 years of existence.

As the chapters unfold, we meet a battle-tested woman who was prepared for the task, especially through her experience at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) when she was wrongfully accused by her former boss, Dr Aliyu Modibbo, then cleared by the Department of State Security (DSS) and eventually posted to the Abuja Enterprise Agency as the Chief Executive Officer – which became the ascending rung of her action-packed career trajectory.

Bala-Usman had one advantage going for her, which was her experience in partisan politics in the earlier years of her career when she contested for the House of Representatives seat representing the Musawa/Matazu Federal Constituency of her home state, Katsina. Perhaps, this provided her an edge, as the political experience hones one’s instincts, and makes you able to think on your feet and to stand your ground when it mattered the most.

In my estimation, Stepping on Toes is a statement of defiance against a superior force intent on herding a zealous reformer into the wrong path. Hence, the takeaway, is that as young people struggling to make a change, we must not be pushed in the wrong direction, even when these powers are the ones that gave us the privilege, the platform and the voice in the first place. We must stay true to what we believe is best for our nation despite the pressure from the sharks in the water.

The book documents many reforms and milestones which, ordinarily, would have gained accolades and promotion, for Bala-Usman in (former) President Muhammadu Buhari’s government known for anti-corruption; but which ironically became a thorn in the flesh to some vested interests, and eventually led to her witch-hunt and subsequent ‘sack’.

As she assumed office on July 18, 2016, the MD initiated a collaboration with BudgIT, the open governance technological platform, to ensure that key research, industry policies and innovations were effectively communicated and that critical data was generated and made available to the public. A Revenue Invoice Management System aimed at improving service offerings, and partner relationships, creating an efficient payment method, maximizing revenue and eradicating losses associated with fraud and revenue leakage was also launched.

She also immediately engaged in resolving a dysfunctional scaling system which resulted in junior officers on higher steps of their grade level earning more than their seniors by grade. “This irregularity meant that staff, especially those in positions considered lucrative, were prepared to do everything possible to stop their own promotion,” it expatiated.

Interestingly, chapter 6, entitled, “Apapa traffic congestion and Eto”, unveils the issue of an underground economy, reportedly worth over N12b annually, built around corrupt practices by officials of task forces around the Apapa ports. This depicts the failure of successive task forces set up by the federal and state governments to tackle the traffic congestion around the ports, especially at the Lagos axis; and a pointer to how people profiteered from the chaos at the ports.

The MD solved this knotty imbroglio with the development and deployment of the Electronic truck call-up software, known as Eto, which reduced human interaction in the management of trucks, thereby tying off avenues for graft, and ultimately restoring sanity to the ecosystem.

In chapter seven, “Dredging of Calabar channel”, the author revealed how the country was saved from paying $ 22 million to a company that made claims in a job it did not perform. According to the book, “The company claimed it carried out the dredging activities between November 14 and January 2015, but neither the Harbor Master nor the Port Hydrographer was aware of any dredging activity at the time. The company did not at any time communicate with the management of the NPA during these purported dredging activities.”

In chapter eleven, “Dismantling OMSL’s secure anchorage area”, the reader comes face to face with the reality of the rent-seeking economy in Nigeria. A private company had set up and was operating a Secure Anchorage Area (SAA) within the Lagos Pilotage District for about four years without any legal relationship with the NPA, generating tens of millions of US dollars without remitting any to the coffers of the NPA or any government agency.

It is instructive to note that, regarding the supposed security the vessels using the SAA were being provided, it is the statutory responsibility of the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to provide this service at no cost to the vessel owners. When Bala-Usman finally pulled down the sham rentier edifice, she was accosted by hoodlums, who claimed she had “taken away food from them”, threatening to harm her.

Curiously, instead of her boss giving her accolades for her most intense efforts at sustaining the spirit of good governance and anti-corruption the Buhari government was known, hers became an albatross. Things came to a head in chapters 14 and 15, when Bala-Usman realized, to her utmost shock and dismay, that her own boss was not happy with her.

Integrated Logistics Limited, otherwise known as Intels, had a contract to monitor and collect revenues of the NPA, in the service boat management operations, from 1997 until 2020 when the contract expired. However, at the expiration of the contract, and as the NPA was about finalizing a tender process for a fresh contract tenure, the then Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, directed Bala-Usman to stop, asking for “restoration of suspended contracts between Intels and the NPA”.

The letter from the Director General of the Bureau for Public Procurement, Mr Mamman Ahmadu, as he weighed in, was instructive: “The correct procedure is that contracts should be won through a proper procurement process that complies with the provisions of PPA, 2007. Furthermore, there is need to avoid the kind of monopoly being enjoyed by Messrs. Intels, which has cascaded into the entitlement mentality being demonstrated by the firm.”

Personally, Stepping on Toes inspires me to keep asking questions. Hadiza Bala Usman did not stop, even when the handwriting on the wall was clear. Eventually, she was told to ‘step aside’, a term that is a novelty in Nigeria’s public service rules.

However, even before the investigative panel finally cleared her of the trumped-up charges of non-remittance of $165millionUD into the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the court of public opinion had already set her free, having seen through the entire charade.

My organization, Connected Development (CODE) and its flagship project Follow The Money, started by asking questions. Then, in 2012 when I first asked for monies voted to save the children of Bagega in Zamfara State, officials at the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Mines and Ministry of Environment, asked, “Who are you? Who sent you? Why are you asking?”

So, because no single kobo that was approved had got to this community, I started the online hashtag campaign #SaveBagega, which finally attracted global attention, and made former President Goodluck Jonathan do the needful.

From that day, we never stopped helping the government to close leakages where the monies could have been wasted. For instance, in 2019 alone, we saved the Nigerian government N50 billion. This is why Stepping on Toes is a timely and indispensable resource for those who want to change the narrative, not only in my beloved country but in the other twelve African countries where we operate, inspiring citizens to make a change, one community at a time.

Hamzat Lawal (Hamzy!) is a renowned activist and campaigning currently mobilizing, organizing and leading a group of young people in bringing needed changes across African communities using Follow The Money. He is currently the Chief Executive of Connected Development (CODE).