Shamsuddeen Usman

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Shamsuddeen Usman
Shamsuddeen Usman - World Economic Forum on Africa 2012.jpg
Shamsuddeen at World Economic Forum on Africa 2012
Minister of National Planning
In office
January 2009 11 September 2013

After his tenure as a minister, Usman continued his involvement in both the public and private sectors through several notable board appointments across diverse industries, including finance, healthcare, education, and natural resources.

In 2015, Usman was appointed Chairman of Union Trustees Management Services Ltd and Songhai Health Trust Ltd. He expanded his involvement in the education sector in 2017 when he became Chairman of Greensprings Educational Services Ltd, followed by his role as Chairman of Rainbow Educational Services Ltd in 2018.

Usman's engagement in healthcare and natural resources grew in 2019, as he was appointed Chairman of Nisa Premier Hospitals and Chairman of African Natural Resources and Mines Ltd. That same year, he was appointed Director of Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

In the financial sector, Usman joined the board of Citibank Nigeria Ltd as an Independent Non-Executive Director in 2017. His contributions to the bank were recognized in 2022, when he was elevated to Chairman of Citibank Nigeria.

In 2023, he took on a key public sector role as Chairman of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), the government agency responsible for managing the Nigerian federal government's investment portfolio.

These roles highlight Dr. Usman's continued prominence in Nigeria's socio-economic development through his leadership and governance across multiple sectors.

Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund

In the years preceding 2008, Nigeria benefited from the surge in oil prices, which allowed the government to build up excess reserves and increase public expenditure. However, Usman had identified that oil price volatility posed very high risks to growth in Nigeria's oil-dependent economy, and as such pushed for the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund, which will serve as a long-term saving fund for future generations and also as a development fund for socio-economic projects It was planned to be similar to the Government Pension Fund of Norway. Normally, excess revenue (i.e., actual revenue less budgeted revenue) was saved in the excess crude account, to prevent overheating the economy, though as there is no legal arrangement for the management of the excess crude account-: However as there was no legal arrangement for the crude account and no mandate for it to be used as a future generations, as Sovereign Wealth Fund became necessary to enhance efficiency in the management of the country's reserves. He constituted a Presidential Technical Committee on the Establishment of the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund, which submitted its report to the National Economic Council and the President. However, due to his direct redeployment to the Ministry of National Planning, he was not able to directly oversee the establishment of the Sovereign Wealth Fund. [13]

Ministerial screening

Following the dissolution of the cabinet by then acting president, Goodluck Jonathan on February 10, 2010, Usman was one of nine re-nominated to serve as a government minister in the new cabinet out of a total of forty-two. This was due to his neutrality on political issues and good working relationship with the acting president. However, [14] Usman's re-nomination was not viewed favorably by members of the Kano State PDP chapter, as they perceived Usman to be a technocrat and not a politician, and as such the People's Democratic Party stakeholders in Kano State. This led to political lobbying from several interest groups to prevent his nomination. As a result, it appeared that the National Assembly had delayed his screening and by the next morning, the local newspapers were reporting that he had been dropped as a Minister due to political interests against his appointment as a Technocrat. [15]

However, on the same morning of the newspaper reports, Usman was the first to be screened by the Senate where he answered a variety of questions on the economy, and answered questions on his performance as a Minister of Finance and National Planning. It was here where he made his famous statements on his battles with the economic mafia in Nigeria who sabotage the government's revenue generating ability. [16]

I had taken on so many mafia; I had taken on the customs mafia, I had taken on the tax concession mafia who are draining this country out of its revenues. Everybody knows the Committee I set up under Senator Udoma saved this country billions of naira. I took on the oil importation mafia; I took on the ports system mafia because I was trying to achieve 48 hours clearance. [9]

Philanthropy

Usman is the chairman and one of the founding members of the Kano Peace and Development Initiative (KAPEDI), a group of concerned indigenes of Kano State driven to rebuild peace and the economic well being of Kano State, especially after the religious conflict in 2004.[ citation needed ]

He also started Gidauniyar Alheri, an NGO in the Garangamawa area of Kano city that provides human resource development training to youths and carries out other charitable activities in the state.[ citation needed ]

On 17 August 2002, the Gidauniyar Alheri Community Services was founded to help the people of the 10 wards of Gwale local government in Kano state cope with issues like poverty, illiteracy, and a lack of sufficient healthcare. Over 200 thousand people have taken advantage of the Gidauniyar Alheri Community Health Centre's free medical services since it opened in an effort to lower the state of Kano's alarmingly high rates of maternal and infant mortality. [17]

Usman is also the chairman and founding member of the Kano-Jigawa professional forum. The forum was established in 2018 with the goal of encouraging young people in both states to become well-educated professionals. All of the forum's executive members were previously national leaders of various professional associations.

Awards

Publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Shamsuddeen Usman". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  2. "Usman joins Dantiye Centre". The Punch . 13 July 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  3. "Citibank Appoints Shamsuddeen Usman Chairman". This Day . 3 August 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  4. "Economic Management Team – The Statehouse, Abuja" . Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  5. Galadima, Anas (24 August 2007). "Usman Declares Asset". Daily Trust. Retrieved 18 May 2023 via allAfrica.
  6. "Central Bank of Nigeria:: Board of Directors". www.cbn.gov.ng. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  7. "Privatisation in Nigeria". www.nigerianembassy.nl. Archived from the original on 29 December 2002. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  8. "Shamsudeen Usman". Africa Confidential . Vol. 1, no. 6. 7 November 2008 [1 April 2008]. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  9. 1 2 Abubakar, Abdul-Rahman; Hassan, Turaki A. (1 April 2010). "Nigeria: How I Tackled Import Mafia - Usman". Daily Trust. Retrieved 11 November 2024 via allAfrica.
  10. Clement, Udeme (4 December 2011). "Subsidy: What Nigerians stand to gain, by Shamsuddeen Usman". Vanguard . Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  11. "How Nigerian govt caused economic recession -- Emir Sanusi". Premium Times . 2 September 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  12. "Account Suspended". thisdayonline.com. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  13. Shehu, Mohammed S. (21 April 2010). "Nigeria: Sovereign Fund to Replace Excess Crude Account". Daily Trust. Retrieved 11 November 2024 via allAfrica.
  14. "champion.com.ng". www.champion.com.ng. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  15. "Saturday Tribune". Nigerian Tribune . 3 April 2010. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  16. "Archived copy". The Punch. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. "Gidauniyar Alheri health facility treats over 200,000 persons in 10 years". 12 October 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  18. Gabriel, Omoh (25 March 2008). "Nigeria: Vanguard Honours 12 Banking Icons 18 April". Vanguard . Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  19. Ifeakandu, Amaka (12 May 2008). "Nigeria: Falalu Bello, 8 Others Become CIBN Fellows". Leadership . Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  20. Djebah, Oma. "Tomorrow's 50 Leaders". This Day. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  21. Etim, Etim (11 September 2024). "Shamsuddeen Usman @75: A toast to a man of character and integrity". TheCable . Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  22. Nwannekanma, Bertram (28 November 2016). "Former minister tasks Nigerians on integrity to mitigate corruption" . Retrieved 11 November 2024.